Sennacherib

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.

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

NoteLachish and Libnah were towns in Judah, Hezekiah's country. The Assyrian army was attacking them one at a time.

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.

And 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,

NoteEthiopia was a land far to the south, in Africa. Tirhakah was its king, and he had his own army. That army was marching toward the Assyrians.

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.

Thus 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.

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

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

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.

Have 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?

NoteThese were cities and lands Assyria had already beaten. Each one had its own god made of wood or stone. The Assyrian king says those gods could not help.

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

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

NoteThese were more cities the Assyrians had taken. The king means that none of their kings are left.

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.

And 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.

NoteHezekiah laid the letter out flat in God's house. That was his way of showing God the whole problem.

15And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD. He said:

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

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.

O 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.

Note"LORD of armies" means God has more power than any army. Cherubim were gold figures with wings inside God's house. People pictured God sitting above them like a king on a throne.

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.

Incline 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.

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

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

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.

And 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.

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

Now 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.

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.

Then 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:

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.

This 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.

NoteZion is another name for the city of Jerusalem. Mount Zion is the hill the city was built on. Shaking your head at someone meant you thought they were silly.

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.

Whom 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.

Note"The Holy One of Israel" is a name for God. It means God is good and different from everyone else.

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.

By 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.

NoteChariots were carts pulled by horses that soldiers rode in battle. Lebanon was a land north of Israel covered with tall forests. Its cedar trees were famous and were used to build palaces.

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

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

NoteThis is the king bragging. He means his army was so huge that it drank whole rivers dry.

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.

Hast 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.

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.

Therefore 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.

NoteRoofs back then were flat and covered with packed dirt. Grass sprouted up there but died fast in the sun. It never lived long enough to be useful.

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

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

29Your anger and your pride 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.

Because 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.

NotePeople put a hook or ring in a big animal's nose. Then they could lead the animal wherever they wanted. A bit is a metal bar that goes in a horse's mouth.

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.

And 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.

NoteA sign was something that showed God's promise was true. The war had kept people from planting their fields. So for two years they would eat food that came up by itself.

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

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

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.

For 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.

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.

Therefore 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.

NoteArmies piled dirt into a ramp against a city wall. Then soldiers could walk up and climb over. Big shields held together made a wall for soldiers to hide behind.

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

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

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

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

NoteDavid was Israel's great king long before Hezekiah was born. God had promised David that his family would keep ruling.

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.

Then 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.

NoteAn angel is a messenger who serves God. A hundred and eighty-five thousand is a huge number of soldiers. It was most of the army camped outside the city.

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

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

NoteNineveh was the largest city in Assyria. It was where the king lived when he was home.

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.

And 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.

NoteNisroch was a god the Assyrians worshiped. A temple is a building made for worshiping a god. Armenia was a land far to the north with high mountains.