Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(A)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^(B)tore his clothes, ^(C)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(D)covered with sackcloth, to ^(E)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And 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. ^4 (F)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(G)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(H)the remnant that is ^[a]left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And 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 ^(I)servants of the king of Assyria ^(J)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^(K)he will hear news and return to his own land. And ^(L)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(M)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(N)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^[b]Cush, “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 ^[c]Judah: ‘Do not ^(O)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “^(P)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? ^12 (Q)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^(R)Gozan, ^(S)Haran, Rezeph, and ^(T)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (U)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Then ^(V)Hezekiah took the ^[d]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[e]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^[f](W)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(X)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (Y)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^(Z)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(AA)to taunt the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have ^[g]hurled their gods into the fire; ^(AB)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^(AC)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^(AD)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

²⁰ Then 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, ^(AE)I have heard you.’ ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(AT)the sign for you: ^[j]you 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. ^30 (AU)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^(AV)out of Mount Zion. ^(AW)The zeal of ^[k]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “^(AX)He 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. ^33 (AY)By the way that he came, by ^[l]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(AZ)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^(BA)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (BB)Then 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 ^[m]the 185,000 were ^[n]dead. ³⁶ So ^(BC)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[o]returned home, and lived at ^(BD)Nineveh. ³⁷ Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[p](BE)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^(BF)the land of Ararat. And his son ^(BG)Esarhaddon became king in his place.