Isaiah 37

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and went up to the house of the Lord.

And he sent Eliakim the steward and Somnas the scribe and the elders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to Esaias son of Amos the prophet.

And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of affliction and reproach and rebuke and wrath; for the birth pang has come to her who is giving birth, but she has no strength to bring forth.

May the Lord your God hear the words of Rapsakes, which the king of the Assyrians sent to reproach the living God and to reproach with words which the Lord your God has heard; and you shall make supplication to the Lord your God concerning these who are left."

And the servants of the king came to Esaias.

And Esaias said to them, "Thus you shall say to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the envoys of the king of the Assyrians reviled me.

Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and when he hears a report he shall return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.

And Rapsakes returned and found the king besieging Lomna. And the king of the Assyrians heard that

Tharaka king of the Ethiopians had come out to besiege him. And when he heard it he turned back, and he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:

"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judea: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, 'Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.'

Or have you not heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done, how they destroyed the whole earth?

Did the gods of the nations deliver those whom my fathers destroyed — Gozan and Charran and Raphes, which are in the country of Themad?

Where are the kings of Haimath and Arphath, and of the city of Seppharim, Anag, Ougaua?"

And Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and opened it before the Lord.

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:

"O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sits upon the cherubim, you alone are God of every kingdom of the inhabited world; you made heaven and earth.

Hear, O Lord; look, O Lord, and see the words which Sennacherim sent to reproach the living God.

For in truth the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the whole inhabited world and their country.

And they cast their idols into the fire, for they were not gods but works of human hands, wood and stones; and they destroyed them.

But you, O Lord our God, save us out of their hand, that every kingdom of the earth may know that you alone are God."

And Esaias son of Amos was sent to Hezekiah, and he said to him, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard what you prayed to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians.

This is the word which God spoke concerning him: 'The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

Whom have you reviled and provoked? Or against whom have you raised your voice? And have you not lifted your eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel?

For by messengers you have reviled the Lord. For you said, 'With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains and to the farthest parts of Lebanon; and I cut down the height of its cedar and the beauty of the cypress, and I entered into the height of the region of the forest.

And I made a bridge, and I dried up waters and every gathering of water.'

Have you not heard long ago these things which I did? From ancient days I ordained them, but now I have displayed them: to lay utterly waste nations in strongholds, and those dwelling in fortified cities.

I let go my hands, and they were dried up and became like dry grass on housetops and like wild grass.

But now I know your resting and your going out and your coming in.

But your rage with which you raged, and your bitterness, has come up to me; and I will put a muzzle in your nose and a bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.

And this shall be the sign for you: eat this year what you have sown, and in the second year the leftover; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

And those left in Judea shall put down root below and produce seed above.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth those who are left, and those who are saved out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not enter this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow at it, nor bring a shield against it, nor cast up a siege mound around it.

But by the way by which he came, by that he shall return. Thus says the Lord.

I will shield this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of David my servant.

And an angel of the Lord went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand from the camp of the Assyrians; and when they rose early in the morning they found all the bodies dead.

And the king of the Assyrians turned back and departed and dwelt in Nineue.

And while he was worshipping in the house of Nasarach his idol, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with swords; and they escaped to Armenia, and Asordan his son reigned in his place.