2 Kings 19:25-27

Contemporary English Version

²⁵Sennacherib, now listen
    to me, the Lord.
I planned all this long ago.
And you don't even realize
    that I alone am the one
who decided that you
    would do these things.
I let you make ruins
    of fortified cities.
²⁶Their people became weak,
    terribly confused.
They were like wild flowers
or tender young grass
    growing on a flat roof,
scorched before it matures.^[a]

²⁷I know all about you,
even how fiercely angry
you are with me.

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Footnotes

19.26 tender young grass … matures: Many of the houses had roofs made of packed earth. Grass would sometimes grow out of the roof, but would die quickly because of the sun and hot winds.

2 Kings 19:25-27

New International Version

²⁵“‘Have you not heard?^(A)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned^(B) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.^(C)
²⁶Their people, drained of power,^(D)
    are dismayed^(E) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,^(F)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched^(G) before it grows up.