Isaiah 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.

1King Hezekiah heard this news. He tore his clothes and put on rough, scratchy cloth to show his sadness. Then he went into the LORD's house.

2And 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.

2He sent Eliakim, who ran the palace, and Shebna the writer. He also sent the leading priests. All of them wore the rough cloth. They went to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says.

3And 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.

3They told him, "Hezekiah says this. Today is a day of trouble, of scolding, and of shame. It is like a baby ready to be born, when the mother has no strength left.

4It 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.

4Maybe the LORD your God heard what the Rabshakeh said. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to make fun of the living God. Maybe the LORD will punish him for those words. So please pray for the few of us who are left."

Note"Rabshakeh" is not a name. It is the title of a high officer in the Assyrian army.

5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

5So King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah.

6And 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.

6Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this. The LORD says, 'Do not be afraid of the words you heard. The king of Assyria's servants said bad things about me.

7Behold, 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.

7Look, I will put something inside him. He will hear a report and go back to his own land. There I will let him be killed with a sword.'"

8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

8The Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. So he went back and found the king fighting against the town of Libnah.

9And 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,

9Then the king heard about Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia. People said, "He is coming out to fight you." When the king heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with a message.

10Thus 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.

10"Say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah. Do not let your God fool you. He tells you that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

11Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

11Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria did to other lands. They wiped them out. So will you be safe?

12Have 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?

12My fathers destroyed many nations. Did the gods of those nations save them? Think of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph. Think of the people of Eden who lived in Telassar.

13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

13Where is the king of Hamath now? Where is the king of Arphad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"

14And 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.

14Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the LORD's house. He spread the letter open in front of the LORD.

15And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

15And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD. He said:

16O 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.

16"O LORD of armies, God of Israel, you sit above the cherubim. You alone are God over every kingdom on earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

NoteThe cherubim were winged figures made of gold on top of the holy chest in the temple. God was spoken of as sitting above them, like a king on a throne.

17Incline 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.

17Turn your ear this way, LORD, and listen. Open your eyes, LORD, and look. Hear all the words Sennacherib sent to make fun of the living God.

18Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

18It is true, LORD. The kings of Assyria have ruined all those nations and their lands.

19And 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.

19They threw their gods into the fire. Those were not really gods at all. They were only wood and stone made by human hands. So the Assyrians destroyed them.

20Now 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.

20So now, O LORD our God, save us from his power. Then every kingdom on earth will know that you alone are the LORD."

21Then 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:

21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah. He said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says this. You prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

22This 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.

22So here is what the LORD says about him. The city of Zion is like a young woman. She looks down on you and laughs at you. Jerusalem shakes her head at you as you go.

23Whom 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.

23Who is it you made fun of? Who did you say bad things about? Who did you shout at and look at so proudly? You did all this to the Holy One of Israel.

24By 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.

24You sent your servants to make fun of the Lord. You said, 'With my many chariots I climbed the high mountains. I reached the far peaks of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedar trees and its best fir trees. I went into its highest parts and its thickest forest.

25I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

25I dug wells and drank the water. With the soles of my feet I dried up every stream in Egypt.'

26Hast 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.

26Have you not heard? I decided all this long ago. I planned it in days long past. Now I have made it happen. That is why you can smash strong cities into piles of stones.

27Therefore 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.

27The people in those cities had no strength. They were afraid and ashamed. They were like plants in a field, like soft green shoots. They were like grass on a roof, burned up before it grows.

28But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

28But I know when you sit down. I know when you go out and come in. I know how angry you are with me.

29Because 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.

29Your anger and your loud noise have reached my ears. So I will put my hook in your nose. I will put my bit in your mouth. I will turn you around and send you back the way you came.

30And 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.

30"Here is a sign for you, Hezekiah. This year you will eat food that grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year you will plant seeds and gather the crop. You will plant grapevines and eat their fruit.

31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

31The people of Judah who are left will be like a plant again. They will grow roots down and fruit up.

32For 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.

32A few people will come out of Jerusalem. Some will get away safe from Mount Zion. The strong care of the LORD of armies will do this.

33Therefore 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.

33So the LORD says this about the king of Assyria. He will not come into this city. He will not shoot one arrow into it. He will not come at it with shields. He will not build a ramp of dirt against its wall.

34By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

34He will go back the same way he came. He will not come into this city, says the LORD.

35For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

35I will guard this city and save it. I will do it for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David."

36Then 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.

36Then the angel of the LORD went out. He struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of Assyria. When people got up early the next morning, all those men lay dead.

NoteThe KJV says "a hundred and fourscore and five thousand." A score is twenty, so fourscore is eighty. The number is 185,000.

37So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, left that place. He went back home and stayed in the city of Nineveh.

38And 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.

38One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch. His sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him there with a sword. Then they ran away to the land of Armenia. His son Esarhaddon became king after him.