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Isaiah 37
The Voice
Isaiah 37
The Voice
37 When King Hezekiah heard the report, he, too, was terribly distressed. He tore his clothes, changed into sackcloth, and went to the Eternal’s house. 2 He sent Eliakim, the palace administrator, along with Shebna, the royal secretary and some senior priests—who were also covered in sackcloth—to fetch Isaiah the prophet (Amoz’s son).
Hezekiah’s Men (to Isaiah): 3 Hezekiah is terribly upset. The king said, “This is a calamitous day. It is marked by anguish, chastisement, and disgrace. Things are as desperate for us as for a pregnant woman weakened by labor who cannot deliver the baby because she is physically spent from the birth pangs.”
4 Hezekiah implores you, Isaiah, “Pray for the remnant that is left here in Jerusalem. Maybe the Eternal One your God will notice how blasphemous the Rabshakeh is (on orders from his master the Assyrian king) and punish them because of what the living God heard him say.”
5 When the men delivered their message as the king requested, Isaiah responded.
Isaiah: 6 Go back to Hezekiah, your lord and king, and give him these sure words of confidence and hope: The Eternal One says, “Don’t let the blasphemous threats delivered by the servants of the Assyrian king make you doubtful or afraid. 7 Watch! I am going to trick him, to set a spirit against him. Just when he is ready to attack you, he’s going to hear a rumor that there are problems back home in Assyria and he will return there. Not only that, but once he’s back, he will die by the sword in his own land.”
8 Meanwhile, the Rabshakeh learned that Sennacherib had left Lachish and was already engaged in battle against the city of Libnah. 9 Now the Assyrian king heard that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, had allied himself with the Judeans and was coming to fight against him. The news prompted him to send messengers to Hezekiah with another message.
Rabshakeh: 10 Tell the Judean king, Hezekiah, “Don’t listen to your God, whom you’re counting on, when He tells you that the king of Assyria won’t conquer Jerusalem. 11 Look around you, and listen to the reports of what the Assyrian king has already done to the neighboring nations. How can he destroy them and let you get away? 12 This line of Assyrian kings has demolished all sorts of nations and peoples. Think of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden in Telassar. None of their gods saved them. 13 While we’re at it, what do you think happened to the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? We destroyed them. You’ll not get away.”
14 When Hezekiah got the written message, he read it. Then he took it to the temple, spread it out before the Eternal One, 15 and began to pray.
Hezekiah: 16 Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, who sits enthroned above the winged guardians—You alone are God. Only You are supreme over all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. And only You have made the heavens above, the earth below, and everything in them. 17 Please, please listen, Eternal One. Attend to us here and now; look and listen. Hear all that Sennacherib said, and all that he wrote, to ridicule You, the living God. 18 Eternal One, he’s right about how the Assyrian kings have destroyed other nations and taken over their lands. 19 And sure, they ruined the gods of those nations, smashed and burned them. But those were not real gods, only the product of human hands, shaped of stone and wood. That is why they could be destroyed. 20 I implore You, Eternal One our God, help us. Save us from the onslaught of these Assyrians. Make it clear to the whole world that You alone are the Eternal One, that You alone are God.
21-22 And Hezekiah got a response. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, relayed this to him:
Isaiah: The Eternal, Israel’s God, the God to whom you prayed concerning the Assyrian king, has this to say against Sennacherib:
Eternal One: The virgin daughter of Zion, lovely lady that she is,
despises you, mocks you.
The daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head and rejects you.
23 After all, who is the one you’ve taunted and insulted?
Who is the one you’ve slandered with untruths, ugly and dismissive?
Who is the one you shouted at and looked down upon with your arrogant eyes?
None other than the Holy One of Israel!
24 By way of your servants’ mouths, you have blasphemed my Lord.
Foolish, foolish Sennacherib. You have boasted,
‘My impressive company of chariots has taken me up the highest mountains,
into the far reaches of the Lebanese forests.
I myself felled its greatest cedars, cut down the best of its cypresses.
I have been to its highest peak, and claimed its thickest forest.
25 I have dug wells wherever I wished, and drunk my fill of others’ water.
I have dried up Egypt’s waterways simply by walking them.’
26 Ah, Sennacherib, haven’t you heard, don’t you know that long before you arrived,
way back in ancient days, I determined all of this?
I charted this course long ago, and now I bring it to pass.
This is the reason why you turn well-fortified cities into heaps of rubble.
27 Their hapless citizens look on,
helpless, shocked, and ashamed.
They were temporary and fragile like grass in the field
or tender new growth, like grass sprouting on rooftops
Blasted by a burning wind before it can grow and become strong.
28 I know everything about you: where you sit, when you come, where you go.
And I know your agitation against Me.
29 Because of this agitation,
and because your smug sense of security has reached My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth,
and turn you back on the road you came from.
(to Hezekiah) 30 Here is a sign for you: you’ll know it’s true by seeing that in three years, life will be normal again: This year you’ll live off of what grows spontaneously. Next year, you’ll live off of what grows from that. In the third year, you’ll do the planting and harvesting—fields and vineyards—and eat from what grows. 31 And those who have survived in this land of Judah—this remnant—will strengthen their roots and become productive again.
32 A small group of survivors will emerge from Jerusalem,
from Zion, the mountain of God’s choosing.
Isaiah: The intensive passion of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will drive this to completion.
33 Here is what the Eternal says concerning the Assyrian king.
Eternal One: He will not come into this city. He will not shoot an arrow at it or approach it with a shield or build a siege ramp against it to come over its walls. 34 Instead he will turn around and go back the way he came. He absolutely will not come into this city. 35 I will defend Jerusalem. I will save this city for My sake and the sake of David, who reverently served Me.
36 Shortly after that, the special messenger of the Eternal One killed 185,000 Assyrian troops. When the morning came, the people could see all the dead bodies strewn around the camp. 37 So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and went back to live in Nineveh, his capital in Assyria. 38 But one day, while he was worshiping his god Nisroch in that temple, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer attacked and killed him. They immediately fled to Ararat, leaving the throne empty. So Esarhaddon, another of Sennacherib’s sons, became Assyria’s king after him.
Isaiah 37
New International Version
Isaiah 37
New International Version
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(B) and put on sackcloth(C) and went into the temple(D) of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(E) the palace administrator, Shebna(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(G) 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(J) the living God,(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(L) Therefore pray(M) for the remnant(N) that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(P) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(Q) I will make him want(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(S) with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(T) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(U)
9 Now Sennacherib(V) received a report(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a](X) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(Z) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(AA) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden(AD) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”(AG)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(AH)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(AK) to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(AL) between the cherubim,(AM) you alone are God(AN) over all the kingdoms(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(AP) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib(AS) has sent to ridicule(AT) the living God.(AU)
18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(AV) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(AW) and destroyed them,(AX) for they were not gods(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AZ) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[b](BC)”
Sennacherib’s Fall(BD)
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(BE) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
“Virgin Daughter(BF) Zion(BG)
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(BH) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BI)
Against whom have you raised your voice(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BK)
Against the Holy One(BL) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights(BN) of Lebanon.(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[c]
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.(BR)’
26 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained(BS) it.
In days of old I planned(BT) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(BU)
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass(BV) sprouting on the roof,(BW)
scorched[d] before it grows up.
28 “But I know where you are
and when you come and go(BX)
and how you rage(BY) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CA) in your nose(CB)
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.(CC)
30 “This will be the sign(CD) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(CF) sow and reap,
plant vineyards(CG) and eat their fruit.(CH)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(CI) below and bear fruit(CJ) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CK)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CL)
The zeal(CM) of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city(CN)
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp(CO) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(CP)
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(CQ) this city and save it,
for my sake(CR) and for the sake of David(CS) my servant!”
36 Then the angel(CT) of the Lord went out and put to death(CU) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(CV) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(CW) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(CX) and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(CY) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(CZ) And Esarhaddon(DA) his son succeeded him as king.(DB)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
- Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields
Isaiah 37
King James Version
Isaiah 37
King James Version
37 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, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto 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 of 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 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 is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith 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 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 he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to 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 given 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 Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 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.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 This is the word which 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.
23 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.
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26 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 defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 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 housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 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.
33 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 shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 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.
The Voice (VOICE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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