Isaiah 37:15-25

15 Hezekiah prayed to the LORD saying,
16 "O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 1who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the 2God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. 3You have made heaven and earth.
17 "4Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and 5listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to 6reproach the living God.
18 "Truly, O LORD, the 7kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the 8work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have 9destroyed them.
20 "Now, O LORD our God, 10deliver us from his hand that 11all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God."

God Answers through Isaiah

21 Then 12Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: "She has despised you and mocked you, The 13virgin 14daughter of Zion; She has 15shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem!
23 "Whom have you 16reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice And haughtily 17lifted up your eyes? Against the 18Holy One of Israel!
24 "Through your servants you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, 'With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of 19Lebanon; And I cut down its tall 20cedars and its choice cypresses. And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest 21forest.
25 'I dug wells and drank waters, And 22with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.'

Isaiah 37:15-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 37

In this chapter are contained Hezekiah's message to Isaiah, desiring his prayer for him and his people, in this time of sore distress, Isa 37:1-5, the comforting and encouraging answer returned by the prophet to him, Isa 37:6,7, the king of Assyria's letter to Hezekiah, to terrify him into a surrender of the city of Jerusalem to him, Isa 37:8-13 which Hezekiah spread before the Lord, and prayed unto him for deliverance, Isa 37:14-20, upon which he received a gracious answer by the hand of the prophet, promising safety and deliverance to him, and destruction to the king of Assyria, of which a sign was given, Isa 37:21-35 and the chapter is closed with the slaughter of the Assyrian army by an angel, the flight of the king, and his death by the hands of his sons, Isa 37:36-38.

Cross References 22

  • 1. Exodus 25:22; 1 Samuel 4:4; Psalms 80:1; Psalms 99:1
  • 2. Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 86:10; Psalms 136:2, 3
  • 3. Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 45:12; Jeremiah 10:12
  • 4. 2 Chronicles 6:40; Psalms 17:6; Daniel 9:18
  • 5. Psalms 74:22
  • 6. Isaiah 37:4
  • 7. 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 16:9; 2 Kings 17:6, 24; 1 Chronicles 5:26
  • 8. Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 17:8; Isaiah 41:24, 29
  • 9. Isaiah 26:14
  • 10. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 33:22; Isaiah 35:4
  • 11. 1 Kings 18:36, 37; Psalms 46:10; Isaiah 37:16; Ezekiel 36:23
  • 12. Isaiah 37:2
  • 13. Jeremiah 14:17; Lamentations 2:13
  • 14. Psalms 9:14; Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 2:10
  • 15. Job 16:4
  • 16. Isaiah 37:4
  • 17. Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 5:15, 21
  • 18. Ezekiel 39:7; Habakkuk 1:12
  • 19. Isaiah 10:33, 34
  • 20. Isaiah 14:8
  • 21. Isaiah 10:18
  • 22. Deuteronomy 11:10; 1 Kings 20:10

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. So DSS and 2 Kin 19:19; M.T. omits "God"
  • [b]. Lit "on high"
  • [c]. Lit "farthest height"
  • [d]. Or "the besieged place"
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