2 Kings 19

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

11Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he 2tore his clothes, 3covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, 4covered with sackcloth, to 5Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 46Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent 7to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for 8the remnant that is 9left.’” 5So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the 10servants of the king of Assyria 11have blasphemed Me. 7Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that 12he will hear news and return to his own land. And 13I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against 14Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left 15Lachish. 9When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of 16Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10“This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of 17Judah: ‘Do not 18let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “19Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 1220Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: 21Gozan, 22Haran, Rezeph, and 23the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 1324Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14Then 25Hezekiah took the 26letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and 27spread it out before the Lord. 15Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, 2829enthroned above the cherubim, 30You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 1631Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; 32open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent 33to taunt the living God. 17It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18and have 34hurled their gods into the fire; 35for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, 36so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, 37Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 38I have heard you.’ 21This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She, 39the virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you; She, the daughter of Jerusalem, 40has shaken her head behind you!22Whom have you 41taunted and 42blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And 43haughtily raised your eyes? Against the 44Holy One of Israel!2345Through your messengers you have taunted the Lord, And you have said, “With my many chariots I went up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers. And I entered its farthest resting place, its 46thickest forest.24I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the soles of my feet I 47dried up All the streams of Egypt.”

25‘48Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. 49Now I have brought it about, That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.26Therefore their inhabitants were 50powerless, They were shattered and put to shame. They were 51like the vegetation of the field and the green grass, Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.27But 52I know your sitting down, Your going out, your coming in, And your raging against Me.28Because of your raging against Me, And because your complacency has come up to My ears, I 53will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And 54I will turn you back by the way by which you came.

29‘Then this shall be 55the sign for you: 56you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 3057The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors 58out of Mount Zion. 59The zeal of 60the Lord will perform this.

32‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “61He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 3362By the way that he came, by 63the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34‘64For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and 65for My servant David’s sake.’”

3566Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of 67the 185,000 were 68dead. 36So 69Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and 70returned home, and lived at 71Nineveh. 37Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that 7273Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to 74the land of Ararat. And his son 75Esarhaddon became king in his place.