Isaiah 37 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
When King Hezekiah heard it, he wrapped himself in and went into the of
He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, along with the senior priests — all wearing rough cloth — to the Isaiah son of Amoz.
They told him, "Hezekiah says this: Today is a day of punishment, and disgrace. It's like when a baby is ready to be born, but there's no strength left to push it out."
"Maybe Yahweh your will hear the words of the whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the and will respond to the words that Yahweh your has heard. So lift up a prayer for the who are still left."
When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah,
Isaiah told them, "Tell your master this: Yahweh says, 'Don't be afraid of the words you've heard — the ones the Assyrian king's servants used to me.'"
"'Look — I'm going to put a in him so that when he hears a certain report, he'll go back to his own land. And I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own country.'"
The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, because he had heard that the king had moved on from Lachish.
Then Sennacherib received a report about Tirhakah king of "He's marching out to fight you." When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:
"Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: Don't let the God you rely on deceive you by promising, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'"
"You've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to every land — completely destroying them. And you think you'll be rescued?"
"Did the gods of the nations my ancestors destroyed rescue them — Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar?"
"Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, or of Ivvah?"
Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of Yahweh and it out before Yahweh.
And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh:
of God of Israel, enthroned above the — you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the land."
"Lean in and listen, Yahweh. Open your eyes and see. Hear all the words Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God."
"It's true, Yahweh — the kings of Assyria have laid waste to all the nations and their lands."
"They've thrown their gods into the fire — because they weren't really gods at all, just things made by human hands, wood and stone. So of course they destroyed them."
"But now, Yahweh our God, us from his hand, so that every kingdom on earth will know that you — Yahweh — you alone are God."
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria —"
" — this is the word Yahweh has spoken against him: She despises you, she laughs at you — Virgin Zion. She shakes her head behind your back — Daughter Jerusalem."
"Who have you mocked and insulted? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes so high? Against the of
"Through your servants you mocked my and said: 'With my countless chariots I climbed the highest mountains, the farthest peaks of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its finest cypress trees. I reached its highest summit, its thickest forest.'"
"'I dug wells and drank foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.'"
"Haven't you heard? I planned this long ago. In ancient times I shaped it. Now I've brought it to pass — that you would crush fortified cities into piles of rubble."
"Their people had no power, they were shattered and humiliated — like plants in a field, like tender green shoots, like grass on a rooftop, scorched before it even grows."
"But I know where you live, when you come and when you go, and how you rage against me."
"Because raging against me and arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my in nose and my bit in mouth, and I will drag you back the way you came."
"And this will be the for you, Hezekiah: This year you'll eat what grows on its own. Next year, whatever springs up from that. But in the third year — sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit."
"The of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward."
"Because out of Jerusalem a remnant will emerge, and from Mount Zion, survivors. The of Yahweh of Armies will make this happen."
"So this is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city. He will not shoot a single arrow here. He will not approach it with a shield. He will not build a siege ramp against it."
"The way he came is the way he'll go back. He will not enter this city," declares Yahweh.
"I will shield this city and rescue it — for my own sake and for the sake of my David."
Then the of went out and down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the survivors got up at dawn — there they were: all dead bodies.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He went back and stayed in
One day, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his own sons Adrammelech and Sharezer down with the They escaped to the land of and his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.