International Standard Version

King James Bible

1As soon as Hezekiah the king heard this, he tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and went into the LORD's Temple.

1And 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.

2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah.

2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3"Here is what Hezekiah says," they told him. "This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them.

3And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city."

4It may be the LORD thy God will hear 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 is left.

5That's why King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah.

5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6"Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you've heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me.

6And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

7Watch this! I'm going to place an attitude within him, so that when he hears a certain report, he'll return to his own country. Then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land."

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

8So the field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, since he had heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish.

8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

9Now King Sennacherib had received this report concerning King Tirhakah of Cush: "He has marched out to fight against you." When he heard it, he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah:

9And 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,

10"Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Don't let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

10Thus 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.

11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, dooming them to destruction. So do you think you will be saved?

11Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

12Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my ancestors save them—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel-assar?

12Have 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?

13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, or of Hena, or of Ivvah, or of Samaria?'"

13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

14Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers, and read them. Then he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread the letters in front of the LORD.

14And 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.

15Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:

15And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

16"O LORD of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth.

16O 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.

17Extend your ear, LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, LORD, and look! Listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.

17Incline 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, that Assyrian kings have devastated all these countries,

18Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

19and have thrown their gods into the fire—but they are not gods, but rather the products of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians destroyed them.

19And 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, LORD our God, save us from his oppressive hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

20Now 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 Amoz's son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, to whom you prayed concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

21Then 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:

22This is the message that the LORD has spoken in opposition to him: "'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem— she tosses her head behind you as you flee.

22This 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.

23Whom have you insulted and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

23Whom 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.

24By your messengers you have insulted the LORD, and you have said, "With my many chariots I have climbed the heights of mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines; I reached its remotest heights, the most verdant of its forests.

24By 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.

25I myself dug wells and drank foreign waters; with the soles of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt."

25I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

26"'Didn't you hear how in the distant past I decided to do it, how I planned from days of old? Now I've made it happen— that fortified cities become devastated, besieged heaps.

26Hast 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.

27Their inhabitants are devoid of power, and are terrified and put to shame. They've become like plants in the field, like green shoots, like grass on rooftops, scorched by the east wind.

27Therefore 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.

28"'I know when you rise up and when you sit down, your comings and goings— and how you've become enraged at me.

28But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29Your insolence has reached my ears, so I'll put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I'll make you turn back on the road by which you came.

29Because 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.

30"And this will be your sign, Hezekiah: Eat this year what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

30And 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.

31Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather, and those who are found will take root downward and bear fruit upward.

31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

32For a remnant will come out of Zion, and a band of survivors from Jerusalem. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

32For 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.

33"Therefore this what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: 'He won't enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield.

33Therefore 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.

34By the same way that he came, he will return; he won't enter this city,' declares the LORD,

34By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

35because I will defend this city and deliver it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David!'"

35For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

36After this, the angel of the LORD went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When Hezekiah's army awakened in the morning—there were all the dead bodies!

36Then 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.

37King Sennacherib broke camp, retreated, returned home to Nineveh, and remained there.

37So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38Later, while he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with swords and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Sennacherib's son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

38And 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.

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.