2 Kings 19
King James Version
19 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 19
1599 Geneva Bible
19 6 God promiseth by Isaiah victory to Hezekiah. 35 The Angel of the Lord killeth an hundred and fourscore and five thousand men of the Assyrians. 37 Sennacherib is killed of his own sons.
1 And (A)when King Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth, and came into the house of the Lord,
2 And sent Eliakim which was the steward of the house, and Shebna the chancellor, and the Elders of the Priests clothed in sackcloth [a]to Isaiah, the Prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of tribulation and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to [b]the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.
4 If so be the Lord thy God hath heard all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to rail on the living God, and to reproach him with words which the Lord thy God hath heard, then lift thou up thy prayer for the [c]remnant that are left.
5 ¶ So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, So shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast [d]upon him, and he shall hear a noise, and return to his own land: and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 [e]He heard also men say of Tirhakah king of [f]Ethiopia, [g]Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he therefore departed and sent other messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, and say, Let not thy [h]God deceive thee in whom thou trustest, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, how they have destroyed them: and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the heathen delivered them which my fathers have destroyed? as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Shepharvaim, Hena and Ivah?
14 ¶ So Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it before the [i]Lord.
15 And Hezekiah [j]prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the Cherubims, thou art very God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heaven and the earth.
16 Lord [k]bow down thine ear, and hear: Lord open thine eyes and behold, and hear the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to blaspheme the [l]living God.
17 Truth it is, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 And have set fire on their gods: for they were no gods, but the work of man’s hands, even wood and stone: therefore they destroyed them.
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the [m]kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou O Lord, art only God.
20 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have heard that which thou hast prayed me, concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken against him, O [n]Virgin daughter of Zion, he hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: O daughter of Jerusalem, he hath shaken his head at thee.
22 Whom hast thou railed on? and whom hast thou blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even [o]against the holy One of Israel.
23 By thy messengers thou hast railed on the Lord, and said, By the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the top of the mountains, by the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the high cedars thereof, and the fair fir trees thereof, and I will go into the [p]lodging of his borders, and into the forest of his [q]Carmel.
24 I have dug and drunk the waters of others, and with the plant of my feet have I dried all the [r]floods closed in.
25 Hast thou not heard, how I have of old time made it, and have formed it long ago? [s]and should I now bring it, that it should be destroyed, and laid on ruinous heaps, as cities defensed?
26 Whose [t]inhabitants have small power, and are afraid, and confounded: they are like the grass of the field, and green herb, or grass on the house tops, or as corn blasted before it be grown.
27 I know thy dwelling, yea, thy going out and thy coming in, and thy fury against me.
28 And because thou ragest against me, and thy tumult is come up to mine ears, I will put mine [u]hook in thy nostrils, and my bridle in thy lips, and will bring thee back again the same way thou camest.
29 And this shall be a [v]sign unto thee, O Hezekiah, Thou shalt eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and the next year such as grow without sowing, and the third year sow ye and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall again take [w]root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and some that shall escape out of mount Zion: the [x]zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32 Wherefore thus saith the Lord, concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not enter into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it:
33 But he shall return the way he came, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.
35 ¶ (B)And the same night the Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of Assyria an hundred four score and five thousand: so when they rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went his way, and returned and dwelt in Nineveh.
37 And as he was in the Temple worshipping Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons [y]slew him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:2 To hear some new prophecy, and to have comfort of him.
- 2 Kings 19:3 The dangers are so great, that we can neither avenge this blasphemy, nor help ourselves no more than a woman in her travail.
- 2 Kings 19:4 Meaning, for Jerusalem which only remained of all the cities of Judah.
- 2 Kings 19:7 The Lord can with one blast blow away all the strength of man, and turn it into dust.
- 2 Kings 19:9 That is, Sennacherib.
- 2 Kings 19:9 Or, black Moors.
- 2 Kings 19:9 For the Kings of Ethiopia and Egypt joined together against the King of Assyria because of his oppression of other countries.
- 2 Kings 19:10 The more near that the wicked are to their destruction, the more they blaspheme.
- 2 Kings 19:14 Before the Ark of the covenant.
- 2 Kings 19:15 He showeth what is the true refuge and succor in all dangers, to wit, to flee to the Lord by earnest prayer.
- 2 Kings 19:16 Show by effect that thou wilt not suffer thy Name to be blasphemed.
- 2 Kings 19:16 By this title he discerneth God from all idols and false gods.
- 2 Kings 19:19 He showeth for what end the faithful desire of God to be delivered: to wit, that he may be glorified by their deliverance.
- 2 Kings 19:21 Because as yet Jerusalem had not been taken by the enemy, therefore he calleth her virgin.
- 2 Kings 19:22 God counteth that injury done to him, and will revenge it, which is done to any of his Saints.
- 2 Kings 19:23 Meaning, Jerusalem, which Isaiah calleth the height of his borders, to wit, of Judah, Isa. 37:24.
- 2 Kings 19:23 Or, pleasant country.
- 2 Kings 19:24 Or, the waters of cities besieged.
- 2 Kings 19:25 He declareth that forasmuch as he is the author and beginning of his Church, he will never suffer it utterly to be destroyed, as other cities and kingdoms.
- 2 Kings 19:26 Thus he describeth the wicked, which for a time flourish, and afterward fade and decay like flowers.
- 2 Kings 19:28 I will bridle thy rage, and turn thee to and fro as pleaseth me.
- 2 Kings 19:29 God did not only promise him the victory, but giveth him a sign to confirm his faith.
- 2 Kings 19:30 The Lord will multiply in great number, that small remnant of Judah that is escaped.
- 2 Kings 19:31 The love, that God beareth toward his Church shall overcome the counsels and enterprises of men.
- 2 Kings 19:37 This was the just judgment of God for his blasphemy, that he should be slain before that idol, whom he preferred to the living God, and by them, by whom ought by nature to have been defended.
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