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19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,[a] clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This is a day of distress, insults,[b] and humiliation,[c] as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.[d] Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.[e] When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.[f] So pray for this remnant that remains.’”[g]

When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard, because the Assyrian king’s officers have insulted me. Look, I will take control of his mind;[h] he will receive[i] a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down[j] with a sword in his own land.”’”

When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.[k] The king[l] heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him.[m] He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over[n] to the king of Assyria.” 11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.[o] Do you really think you will be rescued?[p] 12 Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar—rescued by their gods?[q] 13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair,[r] Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

14 Hezekiah took the letter[s] from the messengers and read it.[t] Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim![u] You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky[v] and the earth. 16 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God![w] 17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 18 They have burned the gods of the nations,[x] for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.[y] 19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I have heard your prayer[z] concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21 This is what the Lord says about him:[aa]

“‘“The virgin daughter Zion[ab]
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[ac]
22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted,[ad]
and looked so arrogantly?[ae]
At the Holy One of Israel![af]
23 Through your messengers you taunted the Sovereign Master,[ag]
‘With my many chariots[ah]
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,[ai]
its thickest woods.
24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands.[aj]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
25 [ak] Certainly you must have heard![al]
Long ago I worked it out.
In ancient times I planned[am] it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[an]
26 Their residents are powerless,[ao]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation.[ap]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[aq]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[ar]
27 I know where you live
and everything you do.[as]
28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[at]
I will put my hook in your nose,[au]
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”

29 [av] “‘This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth:[aw] This year you will eat what grows wild,[ax] and next year[ay] what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.[az] 30 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.[ba]

31 “‘For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[bb] will accomplish this.
32 So this is what the Lord has said about the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.[bc]
He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors,[bd]
nor will he build siege works against it.
33 He will go back the way he came.
He will not enter this city,” says the Lord.

34 “‘I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’”[be]

35 That very night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When they[bf] got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses.[bg] 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh.[bh] 37 One day,[bi] as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch,[bj] his sons[bk] Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.[bl] They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:2 tn Heb “elders of the priests.”
  2. 2 Kings 19:3 tn Or “rebuke,” “correction.”
  3. 2 Kings 19:3 tn Or “contempt.”
  4. 2 Kings 19:3 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
  5. 2 Kings 19:4 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
  6. 2 Kings 19:4 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
  7. 2 Kings 19:4 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
  8. 2 Kings 19:7 tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh), “spirit,” is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.
  9. 2 Kings 19:7 tn Heb “hear.”
  10. 2 Kings 19:7 tn Heb “cause him to fall,” that is, “kill him.”
  11. 2 Kings 19:8 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
  12. 2 Kings 19:9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  13. 2 Kings 19:9 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Look, he has come out to fight with you.’”
  14. 2 Kings 19:10 tn Heb “will not be given in the hand.”
  15. 2 Kings 19:11 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
  16. 2 Kings 19:11 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
  17. 2 Kings 19:12 tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
  18. 2 Kings 19:13 sn Lair is a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
  19. 2 Kings 19:14 tc The MT has the plural, “letters,” but the final mem is probably dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular.
  20. 2 Kings 19:14 tc The MT has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual issue concerning the plural word “letters.” The parallel passage in Isa 37:14 has the singular suffix.
  21. 2 Kings 19:15 sn This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.
  22. 2 Kings 19:15 tn Or “the heavens.”
  23. 2 Kings 19:16 tn Heb “Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
  24. 2 Kings 19:18 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
  25. 2 Kings 19:18 tn Heb “so they destroyed them.”
  26. 2 Kings 19:20 tn Heb “what you have prayed to me.”
  27. 2 Kings 19:21 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
  28. 2 Kings 19:21 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
  29. 2 Kings 19:21 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
  30. 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “have you raised a voice.”
  31. 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”
  32. 2 Kings 19:22 sn This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.
  33. 2 Kings 19:23 tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”
  34. 2 Kings 19:23 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (berekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (berov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.
  35. 2 Kings 19:23 tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”
  36. 2 Kings 19:24 tn Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”
  37. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
  38. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
  39. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “formed.”
  40. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (tehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
  41. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “short of hand.”
  42. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
  43. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
  44. 2 Kings 19:26 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
  45. 2 Kings 19:27 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).
  46. 2 Kings 19:28 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (shaʾananekha), “your complacency,” is emended to שַׁאֲוַנְךְ (shaʾavanekha), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.
  47. 2 Kings 19:28 sn The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
  48. 2 Kings 19:29 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).
  49. 2 Kings 19:29 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (ʾot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
  50. 2 Kings 19:29 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
  51. 2 Kings 19:29 tn Heb “and in the second year.”
  52. 2 Kings 19:29 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.
  53. 2 Kings 19:30 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
  54. 2 Kings 19:31 tn Traditionally “the Lord of hosts.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them. The Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, has “the zeal of the Lord of hosts” rather than “the zeal of the Lord” (Kethib). The translation follows the Qere here.
  55. 2 Kings 19:32 tn Heb “there.”
  56. 2 Kings 19:32 tn Heb “[with] a shield.” By metonymy the “shield” stands for the soldier who carries it.
  57. 2 Kings 19:34 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
  58. 2 Kings 19:35 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
  59. 2 Kings 19:35 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”
  60. 2 Kings 19:36 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
  61. 2 Kings 19:37 sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.
  62. 2 Kings 19:37 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a textual variation of Nusku, the Mesopotamian god of light and fire. Other proposals have tried to relate the name to Ashur, the chief god of the Assyria, or to Ninurta, the Assyrian god of war.
  63. 2 Kings 19:37 tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.
  64. 2 Kings 19:37 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(B) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim(C) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(D) all wearing sackcloth,(E) to the prophet Isaiah(F) son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(G) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(H) the living God, and that he will rebuke(I) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(J) that still survives.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(K) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(L) me. Listen! When he hears a certain report,(M) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(N)’”

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(O) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(P)

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(Q) on deceive(R) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(S) them—the gods of Gozan,(T) Harran,(U) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(V)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(W)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(X) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(Y) you alone(Z) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(AA) Lord, and hear;(AB) open your eyes,(AC) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(AD) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AE) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(AF) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(AG) of the earth may know(AH) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(AI)(AJ)

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(AK) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(AL) him:

“‘Virgin Daughter(AM) Zion
    despises(AN) you and mocks(AO) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(AP) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AQ)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(AR) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(AS)
    “With my many chariots(AT)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(AU) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

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

27 “‘But I know(BC) where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BD) in your nose
    and my bit(BE) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(BF)
    by the way you came.’

29 “This will be the sign(BG) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(BH)
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(BI) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(BJ) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(BK) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(BL)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(BM)

“The zeal(BN) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(BO)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(BP) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David(BQ) my servant.’”

35 That night the angel of the Lord(BR) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(BS) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(BT) He returned to Nineveh(BU) and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(BV) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(BW) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(BX) And Esarhaddon(BY) his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region

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.

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.

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.

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.

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

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.

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.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

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.