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2 Kings 18:17-19:37
New American Standard Bible

17 Then the king of Assyria sent (A)Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the (B)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the [a]fuller’s field. 18 Then they called to the king, and (C)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, (D)Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

19 And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “(E)What is this confidence that you [b]have? 20 You say—but they are only [c]empty words—‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, (F)that you have revolted against me? 21 Now behold, you have [d](G)relied on the [e]support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his [f]hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 22 However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and (H)whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23 Now then, [g]come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then can you drive back even [h]one [i]official of the least of my master’s servants, and [j]rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without [k]the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we [l]understand it; and do not speak with us in [m](I)Judean [n]so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” 27 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

28 Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, [o]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: ‘(J)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from [p]my hand. 30 And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make [q]your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, (K)each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you (L)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” 33 (M)Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 (N)Where are the gods of Hamath and (O)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and [r](P)Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, (Q)that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s [s]command: “Do not answer him.” 37 Then (R)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah (S)with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 (T)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he (U)tore his clothes, (V)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, (W)covered with sackcloth, to (X)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 (Y)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent (Z)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for (AA)the remnant that is [t]left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the (AB)servants of the king of Assyria (AC)have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that (AD)he will hear news and return to his own land. And (AE)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against (AF)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (AG)Lachish. 9 When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of [u]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of [v]Judah: ‘Do not (AH)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “(AI)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 (AJ)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: (AK)Gozan, (AL)Haran, Rezeph, and (AM)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (AN)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Then (AO)Hezekiah took the [w]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and [x]spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, [y](AP)enthroned above the cherubim, (AQ)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 (AR)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; (AS)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent (AT)to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have [z]hurled their gods into the fire; (AU)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, (AV)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, (AW)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, (AX)I have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She, (AY)the virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you;
She, the daughter of Jerusalem, (AZ)has shaken her head behind you!
22 Whom have you (BA)taunted and (BB)blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And [aa]haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the (BC)Holy One of Israel!
23 (BD)Through your messengers you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I went up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers.
And I entered its farthest resting place, its (BE)thickest forest.
24 I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the soles of my feet I (BF)dried up
All the streams of Egypt.”

25 ‘(BG)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
(BH)Now I have brought it about,
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants were [ab]powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame.
They were (BI)like the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
27 But (BJ)I know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 Because of your raging against Me,
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I (BK)will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And (BL)I will turn you back by the way by which you came.

29 ‘Then this shall be (BM)the sign for you: [ac]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 (BN)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors (BO)out of Mount Zion. (BP)The zeal of [ad]the Lord will perform this.

32 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “(BQ)He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 33 (BR)By the way that he came, by [ae]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘(BS)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and (BT)for My servant David’s sake.’”

35 (BU)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of [af]the 185,000 were [ag]dead. 36 So (BV)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and [ah]returned home, and lived at (BW)Nineveh. 37 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that [ai](BX)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to (BY)the land of Ararat. And his son (BZ)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:17 I.e., launderer’s
  2. 2 Kings 18:19 Lit trust
  3. 2 Kings 18:20 Lit a word of lips
  4. 2 Kings 18:21 Lit relied for yourself
  5. 2 Kings 18:21 Or staff
  6. 2 Kings 18:21 Lit palm
  7. 2 Kings 18:23 Lit please exchange pledges
  8. 2 Kings 18:24 Lit the face of one
  9. 2 Kings 18:24 Or governor
  10. 2 Kings 18:24 Lit rely for yourself
  11. 2 Kings 18:25 Lit the Lord
  12. 2 Kings 18:26 Lit hear
  13. 2 Kings 18:26 I.e., Hebrew
  14. 2 Kings 18:26 Lit in the ears of...wall
  15. 2 Kings 18:28 Lit and spoke, saying,
  16. 2 Kings 18:29 MT his
  17. 2 Kings 18:31 Lit with me a blessing
  18. 2 Kings 18:34 In 2 Kin 17:24, Avva
  19. 2 Kings 18:36 Lit command, saying
  20. 2 Kings 19:4 Lit found
  21. 2 Kings 19:9 Or Ethiopia
  22. 2 Kings 19:10 Lit Judah, saying,
  23. 2 Kings 19:14 Lit letters...read them
  24. 2 Kings 19:14 Lit Hezekiah spread
  25. 2 Kings 19:15 Lit sitting
  26. 2 Kings 19:18 Lit given
  27. 2 Kings 19:22 Lit on high
  28. 2 Kings 19:26 Lit short of hand
  29. 2 Kings 19:29 Lit to eat
  30. 2 Kings 19:31 Some ancient mss the Lord of armies
  31. 2 Kings 19:33 Lit it
  32. 2 Kings 19:35 Lit them
  33. 2 Kings 19:35 Lit dead bodies
  34. 2 Kings 19:36 Lit went and returned
  35. 2 Kings 19:37 Some ancient mss his sons Adrammelech
Listen to 2 Kings 18:17-19:37
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2 Kings 18:17-19:37
New International Version

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)(B)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(C) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,(D) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 18 They called for the king; and Eliakim(E) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna(F) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence(G) of yours? 20 You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 21 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt,(H) that splintered reed of a staff,(I) which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 22 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

23 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer(J) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[a]? 25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?(K) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(L) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

27 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(M) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(N) and drink water from your own cistern,(O) 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life(P) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god(Q) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath(R) and Arpad?(S) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(T)

36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim(U) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(V) and told him what the field commander had said.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(W)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(X) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(Y) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(Z) all wearing sackcloth,(AA) to the prophet Isaiah(AB) son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(AC) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(AD) the living God, and that he will rebuke(AE) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(AF) that still survives.”

5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(AG) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(AH) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(AI) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(AJ)’”

8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(AK) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(AL)

9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[b] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(AM) on deceive(AN) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(AO) them—the gods of Gozan,(AP) Harran,(AQ) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(AR)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(AS)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(AT) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(AU) you alone(AV) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(AW) Lord, and hear;(AX) open your eyes,(AY) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(AZ) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(BA) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BB) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(BC) of the earth may know(BD) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(BE)(BF)

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(BG) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(BH) him:

“‘Virgin Daughter(BI) Zion
    despises(BJ) you and mocks(BK) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(BL) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BM)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(BN) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(BO)
    “With my many chariots(BP)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(BQ) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘Have you not heard?(BR)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(BS) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(BT)
26 Their people, drained of power,(BU)
    are dismayed(BV) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(BW)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(BX) before it grows up.

27 “‘But I know(BY) where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BZ) in your nose
    and my bit(CA) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(CB)
    by the way you came.’

29 “This will be the sign(CC) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(CD)
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(CE) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(CF) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(CG) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CH)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CI)

“The zeal(CJ) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(CK)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(CL) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David(CM) my servant.’”

35 That night the angel of the Lord(CN) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(CO) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(CP) He returned to Nineveh(CQ) and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(CR) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(CS) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(CT) And Esarhaddon(CU) his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers
  2. 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region
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