22 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

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22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

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15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(A) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(B)

16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(C) and drink water from your own cistern,(D) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(E)—a land of grain and new wine,(F) a land of bread and vineyards.

18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(G) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(H) Have they rescued Samaria(I) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(J) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(K)

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15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, the Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

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10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(A) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(B) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(C) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(D) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(E) Rezeph and the people of Eden(F) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(G) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(H) Hena and Ivvah?”(I)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(J)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(K) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(L) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(M) to the Lord: 16 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(N) between the cherubim,(O) you alone are God(P) over all the kingdoms(Q) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(R) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(S) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(T) listen to all the words Sennacherib(U) has sent to ridicule(V) the living God.(W)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(X) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(Y) and destroyed them,(Z) for they were not gods(AA) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AB) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(AC) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(AD) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[a](AE)

Sennacherib’s Fall(AF)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(AG) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter(AH) Zion(AI)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(AJ) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AK)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(AL)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(AM)
    Against the Holy One(AN) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(AO)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(AP) of Lebanon.(AQ)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(AR)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[b]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(AS) all the streams of Egypt.(AT)

26 “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained(AU) it.
In days of old I planned(AV) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(AW)
27 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass(AX) sprouting on the roof,(AY)
    scorched[c] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go(AZ)
    and how you rage(BA) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence(BB) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BC) in your nose(BD)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.(BE)

30 “This will be the sign(BF) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year(BG) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(BH) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(BI) and eat their fruit.(BJ)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(BK) below and bear fruit(BL) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(BM)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(BN)
The zeal(BO) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city(BP)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp(BQ) against it.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  2. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
  3. Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields

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 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

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, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

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 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,

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 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 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

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 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 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

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 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.

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