THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
ISAIAH
Isaiah 37 ©
Hezekiah mourns and sends for the prophet Isaiah to request his prayer unto God for them, v. 1, etc. Isaiah comforts and strengthens king Hezekiah with the Word of God, 6. Sennacherib, hearing that the king of the Ethiopians has come to fight against him, sends messengers again to Hezekiah with blasphemous letters, 9, etc. Whereupon Hezekiah makes a most earnest and fervent prayer in the house of the Lord, 14. And receives a very comfortable answer from God by the prophet Isaiah, 21. The angel of God smites the Assyrians, 36. Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons, 37, 38. Compare 2 Kings 19.
AND it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard 1it, that he 2rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and 3went into the house of the LORD.
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.
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, 4This day is 5a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and 6of blasphemy: for the children are come 7to the birth, and 8there is not strength to bring forth.
It may be the LORD thy God will 9hear the words of Rab-shakeh, 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 10for the remnant that is left.
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
¶And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid 11of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith 12the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
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 13by 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 15Lachish.
And 16he 17heard 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, 18saying,
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.
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands 19by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which 20my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
Where is the king of 21Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and 22Ivah?
¶And Hezekiah received 23the 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.
And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest 24between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, 25which hath sent to reproach the living God.
Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste 26all the nations, and their countries,
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.
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.
¶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:27
This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, 28the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath 29shaken her head at thee.
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.
By 30thy 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.
I have 31digged, and drunk 32water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done 33it; and of ancient times, that I have 34formed it? now have I brought it to pass, 35that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Therefore their inhabitants were of 36small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass 37on the housetops, and 38as corn blasted before it be grown up.
But 39I know thy abode, 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, therefore will I put 40my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
And this shall be 41a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as 42groweth of itself; and the second year 43that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth 44a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: thea 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, 45nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bankb 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 Ic will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and 46for my servant David's sake.
Thend the angel of the LORD 47went forth, and smote in 48the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all 49dead corpses.
¶So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at 50Nineveh.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote 51him with the sword; and they escaped 52into the land of Armenia: and 53Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.