Isaiah 37:11-18, 29-36

Certainly you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them all. Do you really think you’ll be delivered? Did any of their gods come to their rescue? Where were the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel Azzar when my predecessors destroyed their lands? Tell me, where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arphad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivva?” When the messengers delivered Sennacherib’s message to Hezekiah, he read it and immediately went into the temple of YAHWEH and spread it out before the Lord. And he prayed: “O  YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, the God of Israel, you are enthroned between the wings of the cherubim and you reign supreme as God over all the kingdoms of the world, for you alone are Creator of heaven and earth. Please lean down to hear my prayer. YAHWEH, open your eyes and see me here calling out to you. Listen carefully to every blasphemous word Sennacherib has sent to ridicule and insult you, the living God. “Lord YAHWEH, truly the Assyrian kings have annihilated all these nations and conquered their lands.

I have heard your arrogant words, and because you rage against me, 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. “ ‘Hezekiah, this will be a sign for you: This year you will eat only grain that grows of itself. Next year you will eat what comes of that. Then, in the third year, life will be normal again. You will sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Judah’s remnant will flourish again, sending deep roots into the ground and bearing luscious fruit above, for a remnant will go out from Mount Zion and Jerusalem. The fiery passion of YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, will accomplish this! “ ‘Therefore, here is what I, YAHWEH, have to say about the king of Assyria: He will neither enter this city, nor shoot even one arrow here, nor raise a warrior’s shield, nor build a siege ramp against Jerusalem. I declare that by the way he came, by that same way he will leave. He will not set foot in the city. I promise to defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and for the sake of David, my loving servant.’ ” That night the angel of YAHWEH came into the Assyrian camp and slaughtered 185,000 soldiers. When morning dawned, there were only dead bodies in the enemy’s camp!