Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Seeks God’s Help
1When Hezekiah heard what the commander had said, he tore his robe, put on sackcloth, and went to the temple of Yahweh. 2And he sent Eliakim, the palace administrator; Shebna, the royal scribe; and the leading priests—all clothed in sackcloth—to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. 3They told him, “Here is Hezekiah’s message: ‘This is a day of great anguish, rebuke, and humiliation. We are desperate, as in the day a woman is in heavy labor but has no strength left to give birth. # 37:3 See Isa. 66:8; Rom. 8:19–21. 4Perhaps Lord Yahweh, your God, will take note of all the blasphemous words of the Assyrian commander who was sent by his master, the king of Assyria, to ridicule the living God. And may Lord Yahweh, your God, rebuke him for the words he heard him speak. So therefore, we come to ask you to pray for us, the remnant that still survives.’ ”
5-6Isaiah answered the king’s delegation, saying, “Tell your master these words: ‘Here is what Lord Yahweh says about this matter: “Don’t fear or be frightened by the blasphemous words of the servants of the king of Assyria. 7I will put in him a mindset # 37:7 Or “I will put a spirit [attitude] in him.” that will cause him, when he hears a certain rumor, to flee back to his own country. And when he returns I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8Meanwhile, the Assyrian commander returned to the king, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish to lay siege against the city of Libnah. # 37:8 Libnah was one of the thirteen cities allotted to the priests in Israel. See Josh. 21:13–21. 9Now, King Sennacherib had heard a report that the king of Ethiopia, Tirhakah, had allied with Hezekiah and was coming to fight against him. So when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this message:
10“Don’t let this God in whom you trust mislead you into thinking that Jerusalem will not fall and be delivered into the hand of the mighty king of Assyria. 11Certainly 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? 12Did 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? # 37:12 These are cities of northern Mesopotamia located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. 13Tell me, where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arphad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivva?” # 37:13 These are cities of Syria.
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14When 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. 15And he prayed:
16“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. 17Please 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.
18“Lord Yahweh, truly the Assyrian kings have annihilated all these nations and conquered their lands. 19They smashed and burned their gods, for they’re not truly gods but mere idols made by human hands shaped from wood and stone. That’s why they could be destroyed. 20So now, our loving God, Yahweh, save us from the Assyrians so that the whole world will know that you alone are Yahweh, Lord God Almighty.”
Isaiah’s Prophecy to Hezekiah
21Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah:
“Hear the words of Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Because you prayed to me about the taunts of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22this is what I, Yahweh, decree concerning him:
“ ‘The virgin daughter of Zion
despises you and ridicules you.
My daughter, Jerusalem,
tosses her head back and makes fun of you!
23Whom do you think you’re mocking and blaspheming?
Against whom do you raise your voice?
And whom have you looked down upon in your arrogance?
None other than me, the Holy One of Israel!
24You sent your messengers to mock the Lord.
You boast, “My vast number of chariots
has taken me up the highest mountains,
to the heights of Lebanon’s forests.
I cut down its loftiest cedars, its choicest cypresses.
I ascended its highest peak and claimed its great forests.
25I dug wells and drank foreign water. # 37:25 As translated from the Dead Sea scroll 1QIsaa. See 2 Kings 19:24.
The feet of my armies trampled the Nile delta dry.”
26“ ‘Have you not learned that I planned all this long ago?
Yes, from ages past I planned it, and now I fulfill it,
that you would conquer fortified cities
and turn them into piles of stones.
27The inhabitants were frightened and ashamed.
They became as fragile as weeds and tender grass,
as short-lived as the grass that grows on the rooftop
and is scorched before the east wind. # 37:27 As translated from the Dead Sea scroll 1QIsaa.
28I know where you live, every movement you make,
all that you do, and your rage against me.
29I 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.
30“ ‘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. 31Judah’s remnant will flourish again, sending deep roots into the ground and bearing luscious fruit above, 32for a remnant will go out from Mount Zion and Jerusalem. The fiery passion of Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, will accomplish this!
33“ ‘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. 34I declare that by the way he came, by that same way he will leave. He will not set foot in the city. 35I promise to defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and for the sake of David, my loving servant.’ ”
God’s Miraculous Deliverance
36That 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! 37Sennacherib, the great king of Assyria, left, returning the same way he came, and retreated to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. 38Then one day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god, Nisroch, his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, entered the temple and killed him with swords. They escaped into the land of Ararat and the king’s son Esar-haddon succeeded him. # 37:38 See 2 Kings 19:35–37; 2 Chron. 32:21–22.
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Isaiah 37: TPT
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