Isaiah, 37

1. 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.

1. When King Hezekiah heard this he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went to the house of Yahweh.

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.

2. He sent Eliakim, Shebna and the elders among the priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, 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.

3. And they said to Isaiah, "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

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.

4. May your God hear the words of the field commander, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent. May Yahweh your God rebuke him for the words he said, insulting the living God. Therefore offer a prayer for the few of us that are left."

5. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

5. When King Hezekiah's officials 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.

6. he said to them: "Tell your master this word of Yahweh: Do not fear because of what you heard when the servants of the king of Assyria insulted me. Listen!

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.

7. I will let him be disturbed by certain news, so he will return to his country and there I will have him slain by the sword."

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

8. The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left 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,

9. This was because King Sennacherib had heard that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was going out to fight him. Again Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah with these words,

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.

10. "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah that his God in whom he trusts might deceive him in saying that Jerusalem will not be given into the hands 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?

11. Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands they have destroyed! And will you be spared?

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?

12. Have the gods saved the nations that my fathers destroyed? Gozan and Haran, Rezeph and the sons of Eden who 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?

13. Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the kings of the cities of Sepharvaim, of Hena and of Ivvah?"

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.

14. Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and when he had read it he went to the house of Yahweh where he unrolled the letter

15. And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

15. and prayed 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.

16. "O Yahweh, God of hosts and God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth, give ear Yahweh and hear!

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.

17. Open your eyes and see! Listen to all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to insult the living God!

18. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

18. It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries of the earth.

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.

19. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not true gods but made of wood and stone by human hands.

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.

20. Now, O Yahweh our God, save us from his hand and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you alone, Yahweh, are God."

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:

21. Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent word to Hezekiah: "You have called upon Yahweh and he has heard your prayer regarding Sennacherib, king of Assyria. This is what Yahweh has spoken against him:

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.

22. The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and scorns you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.

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.

23. Whom have you insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted up your brow? 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.

24. Through your servants you have insulted Yahweh. For you have said: With my numerous chariots, I have climbed the heights of the mountains, the topmost recesses of Lebanon. I have felled its tallest cedars and its choicest fir trees. I have reached the remotest heights of its border, the best of its forests.

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.

25. I have dug wells and drunk waters; I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.

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.

26. But have you not heard how I decreed it long ago? I have just brought to pass what I planned from days of old: to lay waste fortified cities, to turn them into heaps of ruins.

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.

27. Shorn of power, their inhabitants have been dismayed and confounded; they have been as the grass and green plants in the field, as the grass on the housetops, as corn scorched before it blooms.

28. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

28. I know whenever you rise or sit, whenever you come or go.

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.

29. Because of your rage against me and of your arrogance that has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.

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.

30. This will be a sign for you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat the gleaning of the fields and next year the self-sown grain, but in the third year sow and reap, plant vines and eat the fruit.

31. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

31. A remnant of the people of Judah shall take root below and produce fruit above.

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.

32. For a remnant will come from Jerusalem and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this. That is why Yahweh has spoken concerning the king of Assyria.

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.

33. He shall not enter this city nor shoot his arrows.

34. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

34. He shall not raise a shield to oppose it nor build a siege ramp against it. He shall leave by the way he came and he shall not enter the city, word of Yahweh.

35. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

35. I will protect this city and so save it for my own sake and for the sake of David, my servant."

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.

36. That night the angel of Yahweh went and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people rose early next morning there lay all the corpses.

37. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed, returned home and lived in 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.

38. While he was worshiping in the temple of his god, Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer slew him with the sword and then escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, succeeded him as king.