Isaiah 37 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

Isaiah prophesies that Jerusalem will be saved

1 When King Hezekiah heard what the field commander had said, he tore his clothes. He put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Then he went into the LORD’s temple. 2 Hezekiah sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. He also sent the leading priests and Shebna the secretary to him. All of them were wearing rough clothing. 3 They told Isaiah, ‘Hezekiah says, “Today we’re in great trouble. The LORD is warning us. He’s bringing shame on us. Sometimes babies come to the moment when they should be born. But their mothers aren’t strong enough to give birth to them. Today we are like those mothers. We aren’t strong enough to save ourselves. 4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear everything the field commander has said. His master, the king of Assyria, has sent him to make fun of the living God. Maybe the LORD your God will punish him for what he has heard him say. So pray for the remaining people who are still alive here.” ’ 5 King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah. 6 Then he said to them, ‘Tell your master, “The LORD says, ‘Do not be afraid of what you have heard. The officers who are under the king of Assyria have spoken evil things against me. 7 Listen! I will send him news from his own country. It will make him want to return home. There I will let him be cut down by a sword.’ ” ’ 8 The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. So the commander pulled his troops back from Jerusalem. He went to join the king. He found out that the king was fighting against Libnah. 9 During that time Sennacherib received a report. He was told that Tirhakah was marching out to fight against him. Tirhakah was the king of Cush. When Sennacherib heard the report, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with a letter. It said, 10 ‘Tell Hezekiah, the king of Judah, “Don’t let the god you depend on trick you. He says, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ But don’t believe him. 11 I’m sure you have heard about what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries. They have destroyed them completely. So do you think you will be saved? 12 The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Did the gods of those nations save them? Did the gods of Gozan, Harran or Rezeph save them? What about the gods of the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?” ’

Hezekiah prays to the Lord

14 When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, he read it. Then he went up to the LORD’s temple. There he spread the letter out in front of the LORD. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the LORD. He said, 16 ‘LORD who rules over all, you are the God of Israel. You sit on your throne between the cherubim. You alone are God over all the kingdoms on earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Listen, LORD. Hear us. Open your eyes, LORD. Look at the trouble we’re in. Listen to what Sennacherib is saying. You are the living God. And he dares to make fun of you! 18 ‘LORD, it’s true that the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and their lands. 19 They have thrown the statues of the gods of those nations into the fire. And they have destroyed them. That’s because they weren’t really gods at all. They were nothing but statues made out of wood and stone. They were made by human hands. 20 LORD our God, save us from the power of Sennacherib. Then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you are the only God.’

Sennacherib falls from power

21 Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah. Isaiah said, ‘The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “You have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. 22 So here is the message the LORD has spoken against him. The LORD is telling him, ‘ “ ‘You will not win the battle over Zion. Its people hate you and make fun of you. The people of Jerusalem lift up their heads proudly as you run away. 23 Who have you laughed at? Who have you spoken evil things against? Who have you raised your voice against? Who have you looked at so proudly? You have done it against me. I am the Holy One of Israel! 24 Through your messengers you have laughed at me again and again. And you have said, “I have many chariots. With them I have climbed to the tops of the mountains. I’ve climbed the highest mountains in Lebanon. I’ve cut down its tallest cedar trees. I’ve cut down the best of its juniper trees. I’ve reached its farthest mountains. I’ve reached its finest forests. 25 I’ve dug wells in other lands. I’ve drunk the water from them. I’ve walked through all the streams of Egypt. I’ve dried up every one of them.” 26 ‘ “ ‘But I, the LORD, say, “Haven’t you heard what I have done? Long ago I arranged for you to do this. In days of old I planned it. Now I have made it happen. You have turned cities with high walls into piles of stone. 27 Their people do not have any power left. They are troubled and put to shame. They are like plants in the field. They are like new green plants. They are like grass that grows on a roof. It dries up before it is completely grown. 28 ‘ “ ‘ “But I know where you are. I know when you come and go. I know how very angry you are with me. 29 You roar against me and boast. And I have heard your boasting. So I will put my hook in your nose. I will put my bit in your mouth. And I will make you go home by the same way you came.” ’ ” ’ 30 The LORD said, ‘Hezekiah, here is a sign for you. ‘This year you will eat what grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year you will plant your crops and gather them in. You will plant your grapevines and eat their fruit. 31 The people of the kingdom of Judah who are still alive will be like plants. Once more they will put down roots and produce fruit. 32 Out of Jerusalem will come the people who remain. Out of Mount Zion will come those who are still left alive. My great love will make sure that happens. I rule over all. 33 ‘Here is a message from me about the king of Assyria. I say, ‘ “He will not enter this city. He will not even shoot an arrow at it. He will not come near it with a shield. He will not build a ramp in order to climb over its walls. 34 By the way that he came he will go home. He will not enter this city,” announces the LORD. 35 “I will guard this city and save it. I will do it for myself. And I will do it for my servant David.” ’ 36 Then the angel of the LORD went into the camp of the Assyrians. He put to death 185,000 soldiers there. The people of Jerusalem got up the next morning. They looked out and saw all the dead bodies. 37 So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, took the army tents down. Then he left. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 38 One day Sennacherib was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisrok. His sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with their swords. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon became the next king after his father Sennacherib.

English Standard Version

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. (Isa 1:1) 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. (Isa 13:8; Isa 22:5; Ho 13:13) 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” (Isa 1:9; Isa 37:28) 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” (Isa 19:14; Isa 37:9; Isa 37:38) 8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. (Jos 10:31) 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush,^[1] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, (Isa 18:1; Isa 20:5) 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. (Isa 36:14) 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? (Ge 11:31; 2Ki 17:6; Isa 36:18) 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’” (Isa 37:12)

Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. (Ex 25:22; Jer 10:11; Eze 10:1; Ac 4:24)

Ex 25:22Jer 10:11Eze 10:1Ac 4:24

17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. (2Ch 6:40; 2Ch 32:19) 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, (Isa 10:13) 19 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 were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”

Sennacherib’s Fall

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: “‘She despises you, she scorns you— the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you— the daughter of Jerusalem. (Isa 1:8; Mic 4:13) 23 “Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! (Isa 10:17) 24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon, to cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses, to come to its remotest height, its most fruitful forest. (Isa 8:7; Isa 14:8) 25 I dug wells and drank waters, to dry up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt. (Isa 19:6; Isa 20:4) 26 “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins, (Isa 10:5; Isa 10:15; Isa 25:1) 27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted^[2] before it is grown. 28 “I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. 29 Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.’ (Isa 10:12; Isa 37:34) 30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. (Isa 27:6) 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isa 9:7; Isa 14:32) 33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. (Hab 1:10; Lu 19:43) 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” (Isa 29:1; Isa 31:5; Isa 38:6) 36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. (Isa 10:33; Isa 14:25; Isa 17:14; Isa 29:5; Isa 30:31; Isa 31:8)

Isa 10:33Isa 14:25Isa 17:14Isa 29:5Isa 30:31Isa 31:8

37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. (Ge 10:11; Jon 1:2; Jon 3:3; Jon 4:11)

Ge 10:11Jon 1:2Jon 3:3Jon 4:11

38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. (Ge 8:4; Ezr 4:2)