2 Kings 19:20-37

Living Bible

²⁰ Then Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have heard you! ²¹ And this is my reply to King Sennacherib: The virgin daughter of Zion isn’t afraid of you! The daughter of Jerusalem scorns and mocks at you. ²² Whom have you defied and blasphemed? And toward whom have you felt so cocky? It is the Holy One of Israel!

²³ “‘You have boasted, “My chariots have conquered the highest mountains, yes, the peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down the tallest cedars and choicest cypress trees and have conquered the farthest borders. ²⁴ I have been refreshed at many conquered wells, and I destroyed the strength of Egypt just by walking by!”

²⁵ “‘Why haven’t you realized long before this that it is I, the Lord, who lets you do these things? I decreed your conquest of all those fortified cities! ²⁶ So of course the nations you conquered had no power against you! They were like grass shriveling beneath the hot sun, and like grain blighted before it is half grown. ²⁷ I know everything about you. I know all your plans and where you are going next; and I also know the evil things you have said about me. ²⁸ And because of your arrogance against me, I am going to put a hook in your nose and a bridle in your mouth and turn you back on the road by which you came. ²⁹ And this is the proof that I will do as I have promised: This year my people will eat the volunteer wheat and use it as seed for next year’s crop; and in the third year they will have a bountiful harvest.

³⁰ “‘O my people Judah, those of you who have escaped the ravages of the siege shall become a great nation again; you shall be rooted deeply in the soil and bear fruit for God. ³¹ A remnant of my people shall become strong in Jerusalem. The Lord is eager to cause this to happen.

³² “‘And my command concerning the king of Assyria is that he shall not enter this city. He shall not stand before it with a shield, nor build a ramp against its wall, nor even shoot an arrow into it. ³³ He shall return by the road he came, ³⁴ for I will defend and save this city for the sake of my own name and for the sake of my servant David.’”

³⁵ That very night the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian troops, and dead bodies were seen all across the landscape in the morning.

³⁶ Then King Sennacherib returned to Nineveh; ³⁷ and as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him. They escaped into eastern Turkey—the land of Ararat—and his son Esarhaddon became the new king.