Isaiah 37

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
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 Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
5 When King Hezekiah's ministers came to Isaiah,	5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
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 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.
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 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.
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 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
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 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,
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 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.
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 what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt 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 which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were 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 is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
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 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.
15 Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of Yahweh,	15 And Hezekiah prayed unto 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, 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.
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 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.
18 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations (and their countries);	18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, 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 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.
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 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.
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 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:
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 concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at 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 blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even 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 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.
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 with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
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 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.
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 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.
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 But I know thy abode, 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 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.
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 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.
31 The surviving remnant of the House of Judah wil bring forth new roots below and fruits above;	31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and 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 they that escape out of mount Zion: 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 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.
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, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
35 I shal protect this city and save it for my sake and my servant David's sake.'	35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
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 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.
37 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.	37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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 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 Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.