“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 And he sent Eliakim, which [was] over the household, and
Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with
sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto
him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke,
and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and [there is]
not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all
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 are
left. 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah
said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD,
Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will
send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to
his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
land.”
“8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring
against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come
out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah,
saying, 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 delivered 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
Thelasar? 13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and
the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 14 And Hezekiah
received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and
Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the
LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of
Israel, which dwellest [between] the cherubims, thou art the God, [even]
thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and
earth. 16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes,
and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to
reproach the living God. 17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have
destroyed the nations and their lands, 18 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. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our
God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms
of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD God, [even] thou only.”
“20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This [is] the word that 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. 22 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. 23 By
thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the
multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to
the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof,
[and] the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings
of his borders, [and into] the forest of his Carmel. 24 I have digged
and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up
all the rivers of besieged places. 25 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 fenced cities
[into] ruinous heaps. 26 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. 27 But I know thy abode, and
thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 28 Because
thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore
I will 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. 29 And this [shall be] a
sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of
themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and
in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the
fruits thereof. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah
shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 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. 32 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 shield, nor
cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will
defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant
David’s sake.”
“35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went
out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and
five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
[were] all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and
went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 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 Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” (2 Kings
19:1-37 AV)
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