| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim's report, he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the LORD's Temple, | 1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the LORD's temple. |
| 2and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests—all of them covered in sackcloth—to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. | 2He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: |
| 3They announced to him: "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. | 3"This is what Hezekiah says: 'This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. |
| 4Perhaps the LORD your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.'" | 4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the LORD your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'" |
| 5That is how the King Hezekiah's servants approached Isaiah. | 5When King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah, |
| 6In reply, Isaiah responded to them, "Here's how you're to report to your master: 'This is what the LORD says: "Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. | 6Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: 'This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid because of the things you have heard--these insults the king of Assyria's servants have hurled against me. |
| 7Look! I'm going to cause an attitude to grow within him so that he'll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I'll make him die by the sword in his own land!"'" | 7Look, I will take control of his mind; he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land."'" |
| 8So Rab-shakeh returned and found the king of Assyria at war with Libnah, because Rab-shakeh had heard that the king had left Lachish. | 8When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. |
| 9When he heard that it was being said about King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "Look! He has come out to attack you!" he again sent messengers to Hezekiah. The messengers were told, | 9The king heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: |
| 10"This is what you are to say to King Hezekiah of Judah: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by telling you "Jerusalem won't be turned over to the control of Assyria's king." | 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 over to the king of Assyria." |
| 11Look! you've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands—they completely destroyed them! Will you be spared? | 11Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. Do you really think you will be rescued? |
| 12Did the gods of those nations whom my ancestors destroyed deliver them, including Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden's descendants in Telassar? | 12Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed--the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar--rescued by their gods? |
| 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'" | 13Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'" |
| 14Hezekiah took the messages from the couriers, read them, went up to the LORD's Temple, and laid them out in the presence of the LORD. | 14Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD's temple and spread it out before the LORD. |
| 15Then Hezekiah prayed in the presence of the LORD, "LORD God of Israel! You live between the cherubim! You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have fashioned the heavens and the earth. | 15Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: "LORD God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. |
| 16Turn your ear, LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to the message sent by Sennacherib to insult the living God! | 16Pay attention, LORD, and hear! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! |
| 17Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated nations and their territories, | 17It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. |
| 18throwing their gods into the fire, since they weren't gods but rather were the product of men's handiwork—wood and stone. And so they destroyed them. | 18They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. |
| 19Now, LORD our God, I'm praying that you will deliver us from his control, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God!" | 19Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, LORD, are the only God." |
| 20Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'Because you have prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, I have listened.'" | 20Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. |
| 21"This is what the LORD has spoken against him: 'She despises and mocks you, this virgin daughter of Zion! Behind your back she shakes her head, this daughter of Jerusalem! | 21This is what the LORD says about him: "The virgin daughter Zion despises you, she makes fun of you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. |
| 22Who are you reproaching and blaspheming? Against whom have you raised your voice? And against whom have you lifted up your eyes in arrogance? Against the Holy One of Israel! | 22Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted, and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel! |
| 23By your messengers you have insulted the LORD. You have claimed, "With my many chariots I ascended the heights of the mountains, including the remotest regions of Lebanon; I cut down its tall cedars and the best of its cypress trees. I entered its most remote lodging place and its most fruitful forest. | 23Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 'With my many chariots 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, its thickest woods. |
| 24I myself dug for and drank foreign water. With the sole of my foot I dried up all the streams of Egypt!" | 24I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.' |
| 25Didn't you hear? I determined it years ago! I planned this from ancient times, and now I've brought it to pass, to turn fortified cities into piles of ruins | 25Certainly you must have heard! Long ago I worked it out, In ancient times I planned it; and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. |
| 26while their inhabitants, lacking strength, stand dismayed and confused. They were like vegetation out in the fields, and like green herbs— just as grass that grows on a housetop dries out before it can grow. | 26Their residents are powerless, they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field, or green vegetation. They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops when it is scorched by the east wind. |
| 27But when you sit down, when you go out, and when you come in, I'm aware of it! | 27I know where you live, and everything you do. |
| 28Because of your rage against me, your complacency has reached my ears. I'll put my hook into your nostrils and my bit into your mouth. Then I'll turn you back on the road by which you came.' | 28Because you rage against me, and the uproar you create has reached my ears; I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle between your lips, and I will lead you back the way you came." |
| 29"This will serve as a sign for you: you'll eat this year from what grows by itself, in the second year what grows from that, and in the third year you'll sow, reap, plant vineyards, and enjoy their fruit. | 29This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: This year you will eat what grows wild, and next year 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. |
| 30Those who survive from Judah's household will again put down deep roots and bear fruit extensively, | 30Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. |
| 31because a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD will bring this about." | 31For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The intense devotion of the sovereign LORD to his people will accomplish this. |
| 32"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: 'Not only will he not approach this city or shoot an arrow in its direction, he won't approach it with so much as a shield, nor will he throw up a siege ramp against it. | 32So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, nor will he build siege works against it. |
| 33He'll return on the same route by which he came—he won't come to this city,' declares the LORD. | 33He will go back the way he came. He will not enter this city," says the LORD. |
| 34I will defend this city and preserve it for my own reasons, and because of my servant David.'" | 34I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.'" |
| 35That very night, the angel of the LORD went out to the camp of the Assyrian army and killed 185,000 men. Early the next morning, when the army of Israel arose, all 185,000 soldiers were dead. | 35That very night the LORD's messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses. |
| 36As a result, King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned to Nineveh where he lived. | 36So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. |
| 37Later on, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword and fled into the territory of Ararat. Then Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon became king in his place. | 37One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king. |
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