Isaiah 37:24-34

24 By the hand of thy slaves thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots I shall come up to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the height of his border and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have dug and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet shall I dry up all the rivers of sustenance.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, that thou should be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 And their inhabitants, of little strength, dismayed and confounded shall be as the grass of the field and as the green shrub as the grass on the housetops, that before it comes to maturity it is dried up.
28 I have understood thy state, thy going out and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou didst come.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as grows of itself; and the second year that which springs of the same: and in the third year ye shall sow and shall reap and shall plant vineyards and shall eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward:
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and from Mount Zion shall come an escape; the zeal of the LORD of the hosts shall do this.
33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 37:24-34 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010