Isaiah 37

NEW JERUSALEM	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 On hearing this, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went to the Temple of Yahweh.	1 When King Hezekiah heard it, 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 secretary, and the senior priests, clothed with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah 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 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and 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 left." '	4 It may be that the LORD your God heard the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
5 When King Hezekiah's ministers came to Isaiah,	5 When 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 Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled 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 put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will make him 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 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
9 on hearing that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to attack him. Sennacherib again sentmessengers to Hezekiah, saying,	9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He has set out to fight against you." 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 you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will 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, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall 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 delivered them, the nations which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar?
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, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of 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 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to 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 to the LORD:
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 art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art the God, 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 thy ear, O LORD, and hear; open thy eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock 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, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
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 were destroyed.
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 So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone 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 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning 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 that the LORD has spoken concerning him: 'She despises you, she scorns you-- the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you-- the daughter of Jerusalem.
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 mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? 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 your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I came to its remotest height, its densest forest.
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 wells and drank waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.
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 that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
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 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
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 sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging 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 you have raged against me and your arrogance has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.'
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 the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same; then 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 the surviving remnant 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 out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. 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 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege mound 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 he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says 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 my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."
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 forth, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
37 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.	37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went home 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 as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, slew him with the sword, and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.