1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

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.

2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, the scribe Shebna, and the elders of the priests, all dressed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.'

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that survives."

It may be the LORD thy God will hear all 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 are left.

5 When King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah,

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me with.'

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

7 Behold, I will send a spirit upon him; he will hear a report, return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria waging war against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

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

9 Now the king of Assyria heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, who had set out to fight against him. So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

10 "This is what you are to say to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by promising 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 delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. Will you then be delivered?

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

12 Did the gods of the nations that my fathers destroyed rescue them—nations such as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were 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 Thelasar?

13 Where now is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?

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

14 Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers, read them, went up to the Lord's house, and spread them out before the Lord.

And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: 'Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.'

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which 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 Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to taunt the living God.

LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

18 They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but merely the work of human hands—wood and stone.

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.

19 But now, Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.

Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.'

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: 'The Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head at you as you flee.'

This is the word that 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.

22 Whom have you mocked and insulted? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in arrogance? It is against 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.

23 By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, saying, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I will cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest junipers. I will go to its farthest heights, its most fruitful forest.'

By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.

24 I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk water there. With the soles of my feet, I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.

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

25 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of rubble.

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 fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

26 Their inhabitants were powerless; they were dismayed and confounded. They were like plants of the field, tender grass, vegetation sprouting on the roofs, scorched before it can grow.

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.

27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, and your coming in, as well as your raging against Me.

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

28 Because of your raging against Me and your arrogance that has reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way you came.

Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will 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.

29 And this will be a sign for you: This year you will eat what grows by itself, and in the second year, what springs from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.

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

31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish 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.

32 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: 'He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it.'

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 shield, nor cast a bank against it.

33 By the way that he came, he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.

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

34 I will defend this city and save it for My 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.

35 That night, the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere.

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

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

37 While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They fled to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.

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.