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Hezekiah Asks Isaiah for Advice
37
1 As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the Lord.
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37
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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.
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2 He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell me:
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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.
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3 Isaiah, these are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born.
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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.  blasphemy: or, provocation
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4 Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the Lord heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.
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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. left: Heb. found
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5 When these leaders came to me,
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5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
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6 I told them that the Lord had this message for Hezekiah:
I am the Lord. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria.
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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.
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7 I will upset him with rumors about what's happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.
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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. send...: or, put a spirit into him
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8 Meanwhile the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.
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8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
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9 About this same time, the king of Assyria learned that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia e 37.9 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11. was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:
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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,
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10 Don't trust your God or be fooled by his promise to defend Jerusalem against me.
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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.
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11 You have heard how we Assyrian kings have completely wiped out other nations. What makes you feel so safe?
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11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
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12 The Assyrian kings before me destroyed the towns of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and everyone from Eden who lived in Telassar. What good did their gods do them?
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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?
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13 The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.
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13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
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Hezekiah Prays
14 After Hezekiah had read the note from the king of Assyria, he took it to the temple and spread it out for the Lord to see.
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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.
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15 Then he prayed:
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15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
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16 Lord God All-Powerful of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures. f 37.16 winged creatures: Two winged creatures made of gold were on the top of the sacred chest and were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18; 2Samuel 6.2). You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world. 
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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.
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17 Just look and see how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.
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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.
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18 It is true, our Lord, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts.
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18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, nations: Heb. lands
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19 They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped.
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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. cast: Heb. given
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20 But you are our Lord and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only Lord.
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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.
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Isaiah Gives the Lord's Answer to Hezekiah
21-22 I went to Hezekiah and told him that the Lord God of Israel had said:
Hezekiah, you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. g 37.21,22 Hezekiah, you prayed ... Assyria: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Now this is what I say to that king:
The people of Jerusalem
hate and make fun of you;
they laugh behind your back.
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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:
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23 Sennacherib, you cursed,
shouted, and sneered at me,
the holy God of Israel.
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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.
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24 You let your officials
insult me, the Lord.
And here is what you
have said about yourself,
“I led my chariots
to the highest heights
of Lebanon's mountains.
I went deep into its forest,
cutting down the best cedar
and cypress trees.
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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. By thy...: Heb. By the hand of thy servants the tall...: Heb. the tallness of the cedars thereof and the choice of the fir trees thereof the forest...: or, the forest and his fruitful field
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25 I dried up every stream
in the land of Egypt,
and I drank water
from wells I had dug.”
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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. besieged: or, fenced and closed
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26 Sennacherib, now listen
to me, the Lord.
I planned all of this long ago.
And you don't even know
that I alone am the one
who decided that you
would do these things.
I let you make ruins
of fortified cities.
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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. Hast...: or, Hast thou not heard how I have made it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? should I now bring it to be laid waste, and defenced cities to be ruinous heaps?
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27 Their people became weak,
terribly confused.
They were like wild flowers
or like tender young grass
growing on a flat roof
or like a field of grain
before it matures. h 37.27 tender young grass ... matures: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and some Hebrew manuscripts “tender young grass, growing on a flat roof and scorched by the heat.” Many of the houses had roofs made of packed earth. Grass would sometimes grow on the roof, but would die quickly because of the sun and hot winds.
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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. of small...: Heb. short of hand
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28 I know all about you,
even how fiercely angry
you are with me.
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28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. abode: or, sitting
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29 I have seen your pride
and the tremendous hatred
you have for me.
Now I will put a hook
in your nose,
a bit in your mouth, i 37.29 I will put ... your mouth: This is how the Assyrians treated their prisoners, and now the Lord will treat Sennacherib the same way.
then I will send you back
to where you came from.
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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.
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30 Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year, you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest.
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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.
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31 Those who survive in Judah will be like a vine that puts down deep roots and bears fruit.
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31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: the remnant...: Heb. the escaping of the house of Judah that remaineth
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32 I, the Lord All-Powerful, will see to it that some who live in Jerusalem will survive.
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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. they...: Heb. the escaping
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33 I promise that the king of Assyria won't get into Jerusalem, or shoot an arrow into the city, or even surround it and prepare to attack.
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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.
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34 As surely as I am the Lord, he will return by the way he came and will never enter Jerusalem.
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34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
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35 I will protect it for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.
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35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
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The Death of King Sennacherib
36 The Lord sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed one hundred eighty-five thousand of them all in one night. The next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies.
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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.
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37 After this, King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh.
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37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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38 One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king. j 37.38 Esarhaddon became king: He ruled Assyria 681-669 B.C.
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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. Armenia: Heb. Ararat
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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