2 Kings 19
18:37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn1 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. 19:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the
19:5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah,
19:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the
19:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.14 19:9 The king15 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him.16 He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 19:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over17 to the king of Assyria.” 19:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.18 Do you really think you will be rescued?19 19:12 Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods?20 19:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair,21 Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
19:14 Hezekiah took the letter22 from the messengers and read it.23 Then Hezekiah went up to the
19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the
“The virgin daughter Zion31
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.32
19:22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted,33
and looked so arrogantly?34
At the Holy One of Israel!35
19:23 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master,36
‘With my many chariots37
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars,
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,38
its thickest woods.
water in foreign lands.39
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
19:2540Certainly you must have heard!41
Long ago I worked it out,
In ancient times I planned42 it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.43
19:26 Their residents are powerless,44
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation.45
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops46
when it is scorched by the east wind.47
and everything you do.48
19:28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears;49
I will put my hook in your nose,50
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”
19:2951 This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth:52 This year you will eat what grows wild,53 and next year54 what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.55 19:30 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.56
19:31 For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the sovereign
19:32 So this is what the
“He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.59
He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors,60
nor will he build siege works against it.
19:33 He will go back the way he came.
He will not enter this city,” says the
19:34 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’”61
19:35 That very night the