Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
1When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,19:1 1Kg 21:27; 2Kg 18:37; Ps 69:11 and went into the Lord’s temple.19:1 2Ch 32:20; Is 37:1
2He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,19:2 2Kg 18:26,37 and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth,19:2 2Sm 3:31 to the prophet Isaiah19:2 Is 1:1; 2:1 son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth,19:3 Hs 13:13 but there is no strength to deliver them.
4Perhaps the Lord your God19:4 1Sm 17:26; 2Kg 18:35 will hear19:4 Jos 14:12; 2Sm 16:12 all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke19:4 Ps 50:21 him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”19:4 2Kg 19:30; Is 1:9
5So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid19:6 Is 37:6 because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants19:6 2Kg 18:17 have blasphemed19:6 2Kg 18:22–25,30,35 me.
7I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land,19:7 2Kg 7:6 where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”19:7 2Kg 19:35–37
Sennacherib’s Departing Threat
8When19:8–13 Is 37:8–13 the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,19:8 2Kg 18:14 he left and found him fighting against Libnah.19:8 Jos 10:29
9The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10“Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely,19:10 2Kg 18:5 deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.19:10 2Kg 18:29–30
11Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: They completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued?
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14Hezekiah took19:14–19 Is 37:14–20 the letter19:14 2Kg 5:7 from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.19:14 Is 37:14
15Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:
Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,19:15 Ex 25:22 you are God — you alone — of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.19:15 Gn 1:1; 2Kg 5:15; Is 44:6
16Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see.19:16 1Kg 8:28–29; Ps 115:4–6; Dn 9:18 Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.19:16 2Kg 19:4; Ps 31:2; Is 37:17
17Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.19:17 2Kg 18:34
18They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands — wood and stone.19:18 Is 44:9–20; Jr 10:3–5; Ac 17:29 So they have destroyed them.
19Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God — you alone.19:19 1Kg 8:42–43; Is 43:10–11
God’s Answer through Isaiah
20Then19:20–34 Is 37:21–35 Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer19:20 2Kg 20:5 to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’19:20 Is 37:21
21This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its farthest outpost,
its densest forest.
24I dug wells
and drank water in foreign lands.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt19:24 Is 19:6
with the soles of my feet.’
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,19:25 Is 10:5
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,19:26 Ps 129:6
blasted by the east wind.19:26 DSS; MT reads blasted before standing grain; Is 37:27
27But I know your sitting down,19:27 Ps 139:1–2
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against me.
28Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.
29“This will be the sign19:29 Ex 3:14; 2Kg 20:8–9; Is 7:14 for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30The surviving remnant19:30 2Kg 19:4; 2Ch 32:22–23 of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
32Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it.19:32 Is 8:7–10
33He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
34I will defend this city and rescue it
for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”19:34 1Kg 11:12–13; 2Kg 20:6; Is 31:5
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
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