2 Kings 19:14-28

14Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.

15Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God — you alone — of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

16Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.

17Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.

18They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands — wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

19Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God — you alone.

20Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’

21This is the word the Lord has spoken against him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and scorns you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back.

22Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

23You have mocked the Lord through your messengers. You have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its farthest outpost, its densest forest.

24I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.’

25Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.

26Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.

27But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against me.

28Because your raging against me and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came.