Isaiah 37

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 On hearing this, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went to the Temple of Yahweh.	1 And it happened that, when king Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered 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 house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, 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 says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not enough 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 left." '	4 Perhaps, somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.”
5 When King Hezekiah's ministers came to Isaiah,	5 And so the servants of king Hezekiah went 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 to them: “You shall say this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians 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 to him, and he will hear a message, and he will 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 Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had set out 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 from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: “He has gone forth so that he may fight against you.” And when he had heard this, 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 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying: ‘Jerusalem will 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, you have heard about all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they have conquered, and so, how can you 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 rescued those whom my fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were at 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 Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?”
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 took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord.
15 Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of Yahweh,	15 And Hezekiah 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, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have 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 O Lord, incline your ear and listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has 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 truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories.
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 these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into 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 from his hand. And let all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are 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 Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of what you have prayed to me about 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 that the Lord has spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
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 have you insulted? And whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and raised up your 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 your servants, you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will reach the top of its summit, 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 dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the river banks with the sole of my foot.’
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 Have you not heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight together, unto its destruction.
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 Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature.
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 your habitation, and your arrival, and your departure, and your madness 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 you became angry against me, your arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you back on the road by which you arrived.
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 this shall be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 The surviving remnant of the House of Judah wil bring forth new roots below and fruits above;	31 And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high fruits.
32 for a remnant wil issue from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. Yahweh Sabaoth's jealouslove wil accomplish this." '	32 For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth, and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish 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 For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield, nor dig a rampart all around it.
34 By the road by which he came, by that he wil return; he wil not enter this city, declares Yahweh.	34 He will return on the road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter, says 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, so that I may 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 Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all these were dead bodies.
37 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.	37 And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he returned and lived 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 happened that, as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.