Isaiah 37

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 On hearing this, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went to the Temple of Yahweh.	1 And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 He sent Eliakim master of the palace, Shebna the secretary and the elders of the priests, wearingsackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.	2 And he sent Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias the son of Amos the prophet.
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 And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring 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 left." '	4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 When King Hezekiah's ministers came to Isaiah,	5 And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias.
6 he said to them, 'Say to your master, "Yahweh says this: Do not be afraid of the words which you haveheard or the blasphemies which the king of Assyria's minions have uttered against me.	6 And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.
7 Look, I am going to put a spirit in him and, on the strength of a rumour, he will go back to his owncountry, and in that country I shall make him fal by the sword." '	7 Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.
8 The cupbearer turned about and rejoined the king of Assyria, who was then attacking Libnah, thecupbearer having learnt that the king had already left Lachish	8 And Rabsaces returned, end found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. W For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.
9 on hearing that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to attack him. Sennacherib again sentmessengers to Hezekiah, saying,	9 And he heard say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:
10 'Tel Hezekiah king of Judah this, "Do not let your God on whom you are relying deceive you with thepromise: Jerusalem wil not fal into the king of Assyria's clutches.	10 Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
11 You have learnt by now what the kings of Assyria have done to al the other countries, putting themunder the curse of destruction. Are you likely to be saved?	11 Behold thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians hare done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou be delivered?
12 Did the gods of the nations whom my ancestors devastated save them-Gozan, Haran, Rezeph andthe Edenites who were in Tel Basar?	12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of Lair, of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah?" '	13 Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?
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 And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread it before the Lord.
15 Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of Yahweh,	15 And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying:
16 'Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, enthroned on the winged creatures, you alone are God of al thekingdoms of the world, you made heaven and earth.	16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Give ear, Yahweh, and listen; open your eyes, Yahweh, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib, whohas sent to insult the living God.	17 Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God.
18 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations (and their countries);	18 For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries.
19 they have thrown their gods on the fire, for these were not gods but human artefacts -- wood andstone -- and hence they have destroyed them.	19 And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men's hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces.
20 But now, Yahweh our God, save us from his clutches, I beg you, and let al the kingdoms of the worldknow that you alone are God, Yahweh.'	20 And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord.
21 Isaiah son of Amoz then sent the fol owing message to Hezekiah, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this,"In answer to the prayer which you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.	21 And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians:
22 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!	22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee.
23 Whom have you insulted, whom did you blaspheme? Against whom raised your voice and lifted yourhaughty eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel.	23 Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
24 Through your minions 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 peak, its forest garden.	24 By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord: and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will out down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, end will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its Carmel.
25 Yes, I have dug and drunk of foreign waters; under the soles of my feet I have dried up all Egypt'srivers.	25 I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.
26 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;	26 Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities should be destroyed.
27 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.	27 The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe.
28 But whether you stand up or sit down, whether you go out or come in, I know it (and how you raveagainst me).	28 I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 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.	29 When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 And this will 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.	30 But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and giant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
31 The surviving remnant of the House of Judah wil bring forth new roots below and fruits above;	31 And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward :
32 for a remnant wil issue from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. Yahweh Sabaoth's jealouslove wil accomplish this." '	32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a, remnant, and salvation from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
33 '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.	33 Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.
34 By the road by which he came, by that he wil return; he wil not enter this city, declares Yahweh.	34 By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.
35 I shal protect this city and save it for my sake and my servant David's sake.'	35 And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.
36 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.	36 And the angel of the Lord went out, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.
37 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.	37 And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive.
38 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.	38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.