2 Kings 19

1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of יהוה.

2 And he sent Elyaqim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests (kohanim), covered with sackcloth, to N51Isaiah (Yeshayahu) the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 And they said unto him, “Thus saith Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu): ‘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 It may be יהוה your God (Elohim) will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria (Ashshur) his master hath sent to reproach 2bthe living God (Elohim chai); and will reprove the words which יהוה your God (Elohim) hath heard; wherefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that are left.

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) came to Isaiah (Yeshayahu).

6 And Isaiah (Yeshayahu) said unto them, “Thus shall you say to your master, ‘Thus saith יהוה: “Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria (Ashshur) have blasphemed Me.

7 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 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria (Ashshur) warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia (Kush), “Behold, he is come out to fight against you”; he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu), saying,

10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) king of Judah (Yehudah), saying: ‘Let not your God (Elohim) in whom you trustest deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria (Ashshur).”

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

12 Have the gods (elohim) of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Thelasar?

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

14 And Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) went up into the house of יהוה, and spread it before יהוה.

15 And Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu) prayed before יהוה, and said, “O יהוה God of Israel (Elohei Yisrael), who dwellest between the cherubims (keruvim), you are the God (Elohim), even You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth.

16 יהוה, bow down Your ear, and hear; open, יהוה, Your eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent him to reproach the living God (Elohim chai).

17 Of a truth, יהוה, the kings of Assyria (Ashshur) have destroyed the nations and their lands,

18 And have cast their gods (elohim) into the fire; for they were no gods (elohim), but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O יהוה our God (Elohim), I beseech you, save You us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are יהוה God (Elohim), even You only.”

20 Then Isaiah (Yeshayahu) the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu), saying, “Thus saith יהוה God of Israel (Elohei Yisrael): ‘That which you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria (Ashshur) I have heard.’

21 This is the word that יהוה hath spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin the daughter of Zion (Tsiyon) hath despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) hath shaken her head at you.

22 Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Yisrael.

23 By your messengers you have reproached the Lord (Adonai), 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 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 how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that you shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

26 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 abode, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against Me.

28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult is come up into Mine ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you camest.

29 And this shall be a sign unto you, You 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 you, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

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

31 For out of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion (Tsiyon); the zeal of N8יהוה of hosts (YHWH Tsevaot) shall do this.’

32 Therefore thus saith יהוה concerning the king of Assyria (Ashshur): ‘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, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith יהוה.

34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant Dawid’s sake.’”

35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of יהוה went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a 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 (Ashshur) departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god (elohim), 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.