2 Kings 19

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 On hearing this, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went to the Temple of Yahweh.	1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his garments, wrapped himself in sackcloth, and went into the temple of the LORD.
2 He sent Eliakim master of the palace, Shebnah the secretary and the elders of the priests, wearingsackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.	2 He sent Eliakim, the master of the palace, Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, wrapped in sackcloth, to tell the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz,
3 They said to him, 'This is what Hezekiah says, "Today is a day of suffering, of punishment, of disgrace.Children come to birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.	3 "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace. Children are at the point of birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.
4 May Yahweh your God hear the words of the cupbearer-in-chief whom his master, the king of Assyria,has sent to insult the living God, and may Yahweh your God punish the words he has heard. Offer your prayerfor the remnant stil remaining." '	4 Perhaps the LORD, your God, will hear all the words of the commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke him for the words which the LORD, your God, has heard. So send up a prayer for the remnant that is here.'"
5 King Hezekiah's ministers went to Isaiah,	5 When the servants of King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah,
6 and Isaiah said to them, 'Say to your master, "Yahweh says this: Do not be afraid of the words whichyou have heard or the blasphemies which the king of Assyria's minions have uttered against me.	6 he said to them, "Tell this to your master: 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be frightened by the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Look, I am going to put a spirit in him and, on the strength of a rumour, he wil go back to his owncountry, and in that country I shall make him fal by the sword." '	7 I am about to put in him such a spirit that, when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own land, and there I will cause him to fall by the sword.'"
8 The cupbearer turned about and rejoined the king of Assyria, who was then attacking Libnah, as thecupbearer had learnt that the king had already left Lachish	8 When the commander, on his return, heard that the king of Assyria had withdrawn from Lachish, he found him besieging Libnah.
9 on hearing that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to attack him.	9 The king of Assyria heard a report that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had come out to fight against him. Again he sent envoys to Hezekiah with this message:
10 Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 'Tel Hezekiah king of Judah this, "Do notlet your God on whom you are relying deceive you with the promise: Jerusalem wil not fal into the king ofAssyria's clutches.	10 "Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: 'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.
11 You have learnt by now what the kings of Assyria have done to al the other countries, devoting themto destruction. Are you likely to be saved?	11 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all other countries: they doomed them! Will you, then, be saved?
12 Did the gods of the nations whom my ancestors devastated save them-Gozan, Haran, Rezeph andthe Edenites who were in Tel Basar?	12 Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed save them? Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the Edenites in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of Lair, of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah?" '	13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, or the kings of the cities Sepharvaim, Hena and Avva?'"
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers' hands and read it; he then went up to the Temple ofYahweh and spread it out before Yahweh.	14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the temple of the LORD, and spreading it out before him,
15 Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of Yahweh, 'Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, enthroned onthe winged creatures, you alone are God of al the kingdoms of the world, you made heaven and earth.	15 he prayed in the LORD'S presence: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.
16 Give ear, Yahweh, and listen; open your eyes, Yahweh, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib,who has sent to insult the living God.	16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.
17 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations,	17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,
18 they have thrown their gods on the fire, for these were not gods but human artefacts -- wood andstone -- and hence they have destroyed them.	18 and cast their gods into the fire; they destroyed them because they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone.
19 But now, Yahweh our God, save us from his clutches, I beg you, and let all the kingdoms of the worldknow that you alone are God, Yahweh.'	19 Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."
20 Isaiah son of Amoz then sent the fol owing message to Hezekiah, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "Ihave heard the prayer which you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria."	20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened!
21 Here is the pronouncement which Yahweh has made about him: "She despises you, she scorns you,the virgin daughter of Zion; she tosses her head at you, the daughter of Jerusalem!	21 This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him: " 'She despises you, laughs you to scorn, the virgin daughter Zion! Behind you she wags her head, daughter Jerusalem.
22 Whom have you insulted, whom have you blasphemed? Against whom raised your voice and liftedyour haughty eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!	22 Whom have you insulted and blasphemed, against whom have you raised your voice'And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 Through your envoys you have insulted the Lord, thinking: With my many chariots I have climbed themountain-tops, the utmost peaks of Lebanon. I have fel ed its mighty cedars, its finest cypresses, have reachedits furthest recesses, its forest garden.	23 Through your servants you have insulted the LORD. You said: With my many chariots I climbed the mountain heights, the recesses of Lebanon; I cut down its lofty cedars, its choice cypresses; I reached the remotest heights, its forest park.
24 Yes, I have dug and drunk of foreign waters; under the soles of my feet I have dried up al Egypt'srivers.	24 I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands; I dried up with the soles of my feet all the rivers of Egypt.
25 "Do you hear? Long ago I prepared this, from days of old I actual y planned it, now I carry it out. Youwere to lay walled cities in heaps of ruins;	25 " 'Have you not heard? Long ago I prepared it, From days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass: That you should reduce fortified cities into heaps of ruins,
26 that was why their inhabitants, feeble of hand, were dismayed and discomfited, were weak as grass,were frail as plants, were like grass of housetop and meadow under the east wind.	26 While their inhabitants, shorn of power, are dismayed and ashamed, Becoming like the plants of the field, like the green growth, like the scorched grass on the housetops.
27 But whether you stand up or you sit down, whether you go out or you come in, I know it.	27 I am aware whether you stand or sit; I know whether you come or go,
28 Because you have raved against me, and your arrogance has reached my ears, I shal put a hookthrough your nostrils and a muzzle on your lips, and make you return by the road by which you came.	28 and also your rage against me. Because of your rage against me and your fury which has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and make you return the way you came.
29 "And this wil be the sign for you: this year wil be eaten the self-sown grain, next year what sprouts inthe fallow; but in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.	29 " 'This shall be a sign for you: this year you shall eat the aftergrowth, next year, what grows of itself; But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit!
30 The surviving remnant of the House of Judah wil bring forth new roots below and fruits above;	30 The remaining survivors of the house of Judah shall again strike root below and bear fruit above.
31 for a remnant wil issue from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. Yahweh Sabaoth's jealouslove wil accomplish this.	31 For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant, and from Mount Zion, survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.'
32 "This, then, is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria: "He wil not enter this city, wil shoot noarrow at it, confront it with no shield, throw up no earthwork against it.	32 "Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast up siege-works against it.
33 By the road by which he came, by that he wil return; he wil not enter this city, declares Yahweh.	33 He shall return by the same way he came, without entering the city, says the LORD.
34 I shal protect this city and save it for my sake and my servant David's sake." '	34 I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.'"
35 That same night the angel of Yahweh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousandmen in the Assyrian camp. In the early morning when it was time to get up, there they lay, so many corpses.	35 That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Early the next morning, there they were, all the corpses of the dead.
36 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.	36 So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, and went back home to Nineveh.
37 One day when he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech andSharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped into the territory of Ararat. His son Esarhaddonsucceeded him.	37 When he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer slew him with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon reigned in his stead.