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Isaiah 37-39
The Message
Isaiah 37-39
The Message
The Only God There Is
37 1-2 When King Hezekiah heard the report, he also tore his clothes and dressed in rough, penitential burlap gunnysacks, and went into the sanctuary of God. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them also dressed in penitential burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3-4 They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘This is a black day. We’re in crisis. We’re like pregnant women without even the strength to have a baby! Do you think your God heard what the Rabshekah said, sent by his master the king of Assyria to mock the living God? And do you think your God will do anything about it? Pray for us, Isaiah. Pray for those of us left here holding the fort!’”
5-7 Then King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah. Isaiah said, “Tell your master this, ‘God’s Message: Don’t be upset by what you’ve heard, all those words the servants of the Assyrian king have used to mock me. I personally will take care of him. I’ll arrange it so that he’ll get a rumor of bad news back home and rush home to take care of it. And he’ll die there. Killed—a violent death.’”
* * *
8 The Rabshekah left and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. (He had gotten word that the king had left Lachish.)
9-13 Just then the Assyrian king received an intelligence report on King Tirhakah of Ethiopia: “He is on his way to make war on you.”
On hearing that, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with instructions to deliver this message: “Don’t let your God, on whom you so naively lean, deceive you, promising that Jerusalem won’t fall to the king of Assyria. Use your head! Look around at what the kings of Assyria have done all over the world—one country after another devastated! And do you think you’re going to get off? Have any of the gods of any of these countries ever stepped in and saved them, even one of these nations my predecessors destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar? Look around. Do you see anything left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, the king of Ivvah?”
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of the messengers and read it. Then he went into the sanctuary of God and spread the letter out before God.
15-20 Then Hezekiah prayed to God: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, enthroned over the cherubim-angels, you are God, the only God there is, God of all kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. Listen, O God, and hear. Look, O God, and see. Mark all these words of Sennacherib that he sent to mock the living God. It’s quite true, O God, that the kings of Assyria have devastated all the nations and their lands. They’ve thrown their gods into the trash and burned them—no great achievement since they were no-gods anyway, gods made in workshops, carved from wood and chiseled from rock. An end to the no-gods! But now step in, O God, our God. Save us from him. Let all the kingdoms of earth know that you and you alone are God.”
* * *
21-25 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this word to Hezekiah: “God’s Message, the God of Israel: Because you brought King Sennacherib of Assyria to me in prayer, here is my answer, God’s answer:
“‘She has no use for you, Sennacherib, nothing but contempt,
this virgin daughter Zion.
She spits at you and turns on her heel,
this daughter Jerusalem.
“‘Who do you think you’ve been mocking and reviling
all these years?
Who do you think you’ve been jeering
and treating with such utter contempt
All these years?
The Holy of Israel!
You’ve used your servants to mock the Master.
You’ve bragged, “With my fleet of chariots
I’ve gone to the highest mountain ranges,
penetrated the far reaches of Lebanon,
Chopped down its giant cedars,
its finest cypresses.
I conquered its highest peak,
explored its deepest forest.
I dug wells
and drank my fill.
I emptied the famous rivers of Egypt
with one kick of my foot.”
26-27 “‘Haven’t you gotten the news
that I’ve been behind this all along?
This is a longstanding plan of mine
and I’m just now making it happen,
using you to devastate strong cities,
turning them into piles of rubble
and leaving their citizens helpless,
bewildered, and confused,
drooping like unwatered plants,
stunted like withered seedlings.
28-29 “‘I know all about your pretentious poses,
your self-important comings and goings,
and, yes, the tantrums you throw against me.
Because of all your wild raging against me,
your unbridled arrogance that I keep hearing of,
I’ll put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth.
I’ll show you who’s boss. I’ll turn you around
and take you back to where you came from.
30-32 “‘And this, Hezekiah, will be your confirming sign: This year’s crops will be slim pickings, and next year it won’t be much better. But in three years, farming will be back to normal, with regular sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting. What’s left of the people of Judah will put down roots and make a new start. The people left in Jerusalem will get moving again. Mount Zion survivors will take hold again. The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies will do all this.’
* * *
33-35 “Finally, this is God’s verdict on the king of Assyria:
“‘Don’t worry, he won’t enter this city,
won’t let loose a single arrow,
Won’t brandish so much as one shield,
let alone build a siege ramp against it.
He’ll go back the same way he came.
He won’t set a foot in this city.
God’s Decree.
I’ve got my hand on this city
to save it,
Save it for my very own sake,
but also for the sake of my David dynasty.’”
36-38 Then the Angel of God arrived and struck the Assyrian camp—185,000 Assyrians died. By the time the sun came up, they were all dead—an army of corpses! Sennacherib, king of Assyria, got out of there fast, back home to Nineveh. As he was worshiping in the sanctuary of his god Nisroch, he was murdered by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. They escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon became the next king.
Time Spent in Death’s Waiting Room
38 At that time, Hezekiah got sick. He was about to die. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and said, “God says, ‘Prepare your affairs and your family. This is it: You’re going to die. You’re not going to get well.’”
2-3 Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and, facing the wall, prayed to God: “God, please, I beg you: Remember how I’ve lived my life. I’ve lived faithfully in your presence, lived out of a heart that was totally yours. You’ve seen how I’ve lived, the good that I have done.” And Hezekiah wept as he prayed—painful tears.
4-6 Then God told Isaiah, “Go and speak with Hezekiah. Give him this Message from me, God, the God of your ancestor David: ‘I’ve heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll add fifteen years to your life. And I’ll save both you and this city from the king of Assyria. I have my hand on this city.
7-8 “‘And this is your confirming sign, confirming that I, God, will do exactly what I have promised. Watch for this: As the sun goes down and the shadow lengthens on the sundial of Ahaz, I’m going to reverse the shadow ten notches on the dial.’” And that’s what happened: The declining sun’s shadow reversed ten notches on the dial.
* * *
9-15 This is what Hezekiah king of Judah wrote after he’d been sick and then recovered from his sickness:
In the very prime of life
I have to leave.
Whatever time I have left
is spent in death’s waiting room.
No more glimpses of God
in the land of the living,
No more meetings with my neighbors,
no more rubbing shoulders with friends.
This body I inhabit is taken down
and packed away like a camper’s tent.
Like a weaver, I’ve rolled up the carpet of my life
as God cuts me free of the loom
And at day’s end sweeps up the scraps and pieces.
I cry for help until morning.
Like a lion, God pummels and pounds me,
relentlessly finishing me off.
I squawk like a doomed hen,
moan like a dove.
My eyes ache from looking up for help:
“Master, I’m in trouble! Get me out of this!”
But what’s the use? God himself gave me the word.
He’s done it to me.
I can’t sleep—
I’m that upset, that troubled.
16-19 O Master, these are the conditions in which people live,
and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive—
fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life!
It seems it was good for me
to go through all those troubles.
Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline.
You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing.
But my sins you let go of,
threw them over your shoulder—good riddance!
The dead don’t thank you,
and choirs don’t sing praises from the morgue.
Those buried six feet under
don’t witness to your faithful ways.
It’s the living—live men, live women—who thank you,
just as I’m doing right now.
Parents give their children
full reports on your faithful ways.
* * *
20 God saves and will save me.
As fiddles and mandolins strike up the tunes,
We’ll sing, oh we’ll sing, sing,
for the rest of our lives in the Sanctuary of God.
21-22 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and put it on the boil so he may recover.”
Hezekiah had said, “What is my cue that it’s all right to enter again the Sanctuary of God?”
There Will Be Nothing Left
39 Sometime later, King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent messengers with greetings and a gift to Hezekiah. He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and was now well.
2 Hezekiah received the messengers warmly. He took them on a tour of his royal precincts, proudly showing them all his treasures: silver, gold, spices, expensive oils, all his weapons—everything out on display. There was nothing in his house or kingdom that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
3 Later the prophet Isaiah showed up. He asked Hezekiah, “What were these men up to? What did they say? And where did they come from?”
Hezekiah said, “They came from a long way off, from Babylon.”
4 “And what did they see in your palace?”
“Everything,” said Hezekiah. “I showed them the works, opened all the doors and impressed them with it all.”
5-7 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Now listen to this Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: I have to warn you, the time is coming when everything in this palace, along with everything your ancestors accumulated before you, will be hauled off to Babylon. God says that there will be nothing left. Nothing. And not only your things but your sons. Some of your sons will be taken into exile, ending up as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “Good. If God says so, it’s good.” Within himself he was thinking, “But surely nothing bad will happen in my lifetime. I’ll enjoy peace and stability as long as I live.”
Isaiah 37-39
New International Version
Isaiah 37-39
New International Version
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(B) and put on sackcloth(C) and went into the temple(D) of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(E) the palace administrator, Shebna(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(G) 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(J) the living God,(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(L) Therefore pray(M) for the remnant(N) 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(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(P) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(Q) I will make him want(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(S) with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(T) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(U)
9 Now Sennacherib(V) received a report(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a](X) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(Z) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(AA) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden(AD) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”(AG)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(AH)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(AK) to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(AL) between the cherubim,(AM) you alone are God(AN) over all the kingdoms(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(AP) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib(AS) has sent to ridicule(AT) the living God.(AU)
18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(AV) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(AW) and destroyed them,(AX) for they were not gods(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AZ) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[b](BC)”
Sennacherib’s Fall(BD)
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(BE) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
“Virgin Daughter(BF) Zion(BG)
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(BH) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BI)
Against whom have you raised your voice(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BK)
Against the Holy One(BL) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights(BN) of Lebanon.(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[c]
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.(BR)’
26 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained(BS) it.
In days of old I planned(BT) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(BU)
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass(BV) sprouting on the roof,(BW)
scorched[d] before it grows up.
28 “But I know where you are
and when you come and go(BX)
and how you rage(BY) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CA) in your nose(CB)
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.(CC)
30 “This will be the sign(CD) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(CF) sow and reap,
plant vineyards(CG) and eat their fruit.(CH)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(CI) below and bear fruit(CJ) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CK)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CL)
The zeal(CM) of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city(CN)
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp(CO) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(CP)
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(CQ) this city and save it,
for my sake(CR) and for the sake of David(CS) my servant!”
36 Then the angel(CT) of the Lord went out and put to death(CU) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(CV) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(CW) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(CX) and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(CY) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(CZ) And Esarhaddon(DA) his son succeeded him as king.(DB)
Hezekiah’s Illness(DC)
38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz(DD) went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,(DE) because you are going to die; you will not recover.”(DF)
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked(DG) before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion(DH) and have done what is good in your eyes.(DI)” And Hezekiah wept(DJ) bitterly.
4 Then the word(DK) of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,(DL) says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;(DM) I will add fifteen years(DN) to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(DO) this city.
7 “‘This is the Lord’s sign(DP) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.(DQ)
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the prime of my life(DR)
must I go through the gates of death(DS)
and be robbed of the rest of my years?(DT)”
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself(DU)
in the land of the living;(DV)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent(DW) my house
has been pulled down(DX) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(DY) up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;(DZ)
day and night(EA) you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently(EB) till dawn,
but like a lion he broke(EC) all my bones;(ED)
day and night(EE) you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.(EF)
My eyes grew weak(EG) as I looked to the heavens.
I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”(EH)
15 But what can I say?(EI)
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.(EJ)
I will walk humbly(EK) all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.(EL)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.(EM)
17 Surely it was for my benefit(EN)
that I suffered such anguish.(EO)
In your love you kept me
from the pit(EP) of destruction;
you have put all my sins(EQ)
behind your back.(ER)
18 For the grave(ES) cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;(ET)
those who go down to the pit(EU)
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise(EV) you,
as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(EW)
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will sing(EX) with stringed instruments(EY)
all the days of our lives(EZ)
in the temple(FA) of the Lord.
21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(FB) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”
Envoys From Babylon(FC)
39 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon(FD) sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys(FE) gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold,(FF) the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures.(FG) There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,(FH)” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word(FI) of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.(FJ) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.(FK)”
8 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,(FL)” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.(FM)”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
- Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields
Isaiah 37-39
King James Version
Isaiah 37-39
King James Version
37 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
33 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
38 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
3 And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;
8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
39 At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:
6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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