2 Kings
19:1-37 King Hezekiah
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes to show he was upset...Then he put on sackcloth and went to the LORD’s Temple...Hezekiah sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna the royal secretary, and the elders of the priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz...They wore the special clothes that showed they were sad and upset...They said to Isaiah, “King Hezekiah has commanded that today will be a special day for sorrow and sadness...It will be a very sad day, like the time a child should be born, but is not strong enough to come from its mother’s womb...The commander’s master, the king of Assyria, has sent him to say bad things about the living God...Maybe the LORD your God will hear all those things and answer them...Maybe the LORD your God will show how wrong the enemy is!...So pray for the people who are still left alive.”...King Hezekiah’s officers went to Isaiah...Isaiah said to them, “Give this message to your master, Hezekiah: The LORD says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you heard from the commanders...Don’t believe what those “boys” from the king of Assyria said to make fun of Me...Look, I will send a spirit against the king of Assyria...He will get a report warning him about a danger, so he will return to his own country...And I will cut him down with a sword in his own country.’”...
The commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish...He found him at Libnah, fighting against that city...Then the king of Assyria heard a report that said, “Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, has come to fight against you.”...So the king of Assyria sent messengers to Hezekiah again...He told them, “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah these things: ‘Don’t be fooled by the god you trust when he says Jerusalem will not be defeated by the king of Assyria...You have heard what the kings of Assyria did to all the other countries...We completely destroyed them!...Will you be saved?...No!...Did the gods of those nations save their people?...No, my ancestors destroyed them all...They destroyed Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar...Where is the king of Hamath?...The king of Arpad?...The king of the city of Sepharvaim?...The kings of Hena and Ivvah?’”...
Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers and read them...Then he went up to the LORD's Temple and laid the letters out in front of the LORD...Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “LORD, God of Israel, you sit as King above the Cherub angels...You alone are the God who rules all the kingdoms on earth...You made heaven and earth...LORD, please listen to me...LORD, open your eyes and look at this message...Hear the words that Sennacherib sent to insult the living God...It is true, LORD...The kings of Assyria did destroy all those nations...They did throw the gods of those nations into the fire...But they were not real gods...They were only wood and stone—statues that people made...That is why the kings of Assyria could destroy them...But you are the LORD our God, so please save us from the king of Assyria...Then all the other nations will know that you, LORD, are the only God.”...
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah. Isaiah said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: You prayed to Me about the message that came from King Sennacherib of Assyria...I have heard you...“This is the LORD’s message against Sennacherib: ‘The virgin daughter Zion does not think you are important...She makes fun of you...Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head at you and laughs behind your back...But who did you insult and make fun of?...Who did you speak against?...You were against the Holy One of Israel...You acted like you were better than He was!...You sent your messengers to insult the LORD...You said, “I came with my many chariots to the high mountains deep inside Lebanon...I cut down the tallest cedar trees and the best fir trees of Lebanon...I went to its highest mountains, its thickest forests...I dug wells, and drank water from new places...I dried up the rivers of Egypt and walked on the land there.”...That is what you said, but haven’t you heard what I said?...I planned it long ago; from ancient times I planned it...And now I have made it happen...I let you tear down the strong cities and change them into piles of rocks...The people in the cities had no power...They were afraid and confused...They were about to be cut down like grass and plants in the field...They were like grass growing on the housetops, dying before it grows tall...I know all about your battles; I know when you rested, when you went out to war, and when you came home...I also know when you got upset at Me...Yes, you were upset at Me...I heard your proud insults...So I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth...Then I will turn you around and lead you back the way you came.’”...
Then the LORD said, “I will give you a sign to show that these words are true...You were not able to plant seeds this year, so next year you will eat grain that grows wild from the previous year’s crop...But in the third year, you will eat grain from seeds that you planted...You will harvest your crops and have plenty to eat...You will plant grapevines and eat their fruit...You will plant vineyards and eat the grapes from them...The people from the family of Judah who have escaped and are left alive will be like plants that send their roots deep into the ground and produce fruit above the ground...That is because a few people will come out of Jerusalem alive...There will be survivors coming from Mount Zion...The strong love of the LORD All-Powerful will do this...“So the LORD says this about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow at this city...He will not bring his shields up against this city or build up a hill of dirt to attack its walls...He will go back the way he came, and he will not come into this city...The LORD says this...I will protect this city and save it...I will do this for myself and for My servant David.’”...
That night the angel of the LORD went out and killed 185,000 people in the Assyrian camp...When the others got up in the morning, they saw all the dead bodies...So King Sennacherib of Assyria left and went back to Nineveh where he stayed...One day Sennacherib was in the temple of his god Nisrok, worshiping him...His sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with a sword and ran away to Ararat...So his son Esarhaddon became the new king of Assyria...