Isaiah 37:21-38

Then 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, this 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! Whom 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! You 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. I dug wells and drank foreign water. The feet of my armies trampled the Nile delta dry.” “ ‘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. The 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. I know where you live, every movement you make, all that you do, and your rage against me. 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! Sennacherib, the great king of Assyria, left, returning the same way he came, and retreated to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. Then 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.