THE SECOND BOOK OF
THE KINGS,
2 Kings 19 ©
Hezekiah sends to the prophet Isaiah, to acquaint him with the blasphemies of Rabshakeh, v. 1. etc. Isaiah promises deliverance from the Lord, 6. Sennacherib is forced to march against the Ethiopians, 8. Sends again messengers to Hezekiah with blasphemous letters, 10. Hezekiah prays unto the Lord for help, 14. Which Isaiah promises him the second time, 20. The same night is the camp of the Assyrians smitten by the angel of God, and Sennacherib being come to Nineveh, is murdered by his own sons, 35.
AND ita came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he 1rent his clothes, and 2covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
And he sent Eliakim, 3which was over the household, and Shebna 4the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to 5Isaiah the prophet theb son of Amoz.
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day 6of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the 7children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
8It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; 9and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant 10that 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 11servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Behold, I will send a 12blast upon him, and he shall hear a 13rumor, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
¶So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against 14Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
And when 15he heard say of Tirhakah 16king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: 17he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
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.
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by 18destroying them utterly: and 19shalt thou be delivered?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as 20Gozan, and 21Haran, and 22Rezeph, and the children of 23Eden which were in 24Thelasar?
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of 25Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of 26Hena, and Ivah?
¶And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the 27house of the LORD, and spread it 28before the LORD.
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which 29dwellest between 30the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent 31him to reproach the living God.
Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
And have 32cast 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.
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.
¶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.
This is the 33word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; 34The virgin the 35daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem 36hath shaken her head at thee.
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, 37and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the 38Holy One of Israel.
39By 40thy 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 41Lebanon, and will cut down the 42tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings 43of his borders, and into the forest 44of his Carmel.
45I have digged and drunk 46strange waters, 47and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the 48rivers of besieged places.
49Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and 50of 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.
51Therefore their inhabitants were 52of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the 53green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
But I know thy 54abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, 55therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and 56my bridle 57in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
58And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things 59as grow of themselves, and in the second year 60that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
And the 61remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet 62again take root 63downward, and bear 64fruit upward.
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a 65remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: 66the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
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 bankc against it.
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
For Id will defend this city, to save it, 67for mine own sake, and 68for my servant David's sake.
¶And it camee to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the 69camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when 70they arose early in the morning, behold, 71they were all dead corpses.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at 72Nineveh.
And it came to pass, as he was 73worshipping in the house of 74Nisroch his god, thatf Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote 75him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of 76Armenia. And 77Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.