Isaiah 37:21-35

God's Answer to Hezekiah

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent [a message] to Hezekiah: "The Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: The young woman, Daughter Zion, despises you and scorns you: Daughter Jerusalem shakes [her] head behind your back.^[a]

23 Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed? Who have you raised [your] voice against and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 You have mocked the Lord through^[b] your servants. You have said: With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its remotest heights, its densest forest.

25 I dug [wells]^[c] and drank water. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.

26 Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.

27 Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.^[d]

28 But I know^[e] your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against Me.

29 Because your raging against Me and your arrogance has reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose^[f] and My bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came.

30 " 'This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

32 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.'

33 " 'Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or build up an assault ramp against it.

34 He will go back on the road that he came and he will not enter this city. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

35 I will defend this city and rescue it, because of Me and because of My servant David.' "

Isaiah 37:21-35 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit behind you
• [b]. Lit by the hand of
• [c]. DSS add in foreign lands; 2 Kg 19:24
• [d]. DSS; MT reads rooftops, field before standing grain
• [e]. DSS read know your rising up and
• [f]. Ezk 19:9; 29:4