Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 37"

Isaiah 37

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 On hearing it, King Hizkiyahu tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of ADONAI.

2 He sent Elyakim, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and the leading cohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha'yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz.

3 They said to him, "This is what Hizkiyahu says: 'Today is a day of trouble, rebuke and disgrace. Children are ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth.

4 Maybe ADONAI your God will hear the words of Rav-Shakeh, whom his master the king of Ashur has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the message which ADONAI your God has heard. So pray for the remnant that is left.'"

5 When King Hizkiyahu's servants came to Yesha'yahu,

6 he said to them, "Tell your master that this is what ADONAI says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you heard the servants of the king of Ashur use to insult me.

7 I will put a spirit in him that will make him hear a rumor and return to his own land; then I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.'"

8 Rav-Shakeh returned and, having heard that the king of Ashur had left Lakhish, found him making war with Livnah.

9 Then he heard it said that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was on his way to fight him. On hearing this, the king of Ashur sent messengers to Hizkiyahu, after ordering them,

10 "This is what you are to say to Hizkiyahu king of Y'hudah: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, "Yerushalayim will not be handed over to the power of the king of Ashur."

11 You have heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands - they have completely destroyed them. So how will you be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them? No, my ancestors destroyed them - Gozan, Haran, Retzef and the people of 'Eden who were in Tel'asar.

13 Where is the king of Hamat? the king of Arpad? the king of the city of S'farvayim, of Hena and 'Ivah?'"

14 Hizkiyahu took the letter from the messengers' hands and read it. Then Hizkiyahu went up to the house of ADONAI and spread it out before ADONAI.

15 This is the prayer that Hizkiyahu prayed to ADONAI:

16 "ADONAI-Tzva'ot, God of Isra'el, who dwells above the k'ruvim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth.

17 Turn your ear, ADONAI, and hear! Open your eyes, ADONAI, and see! Hear all the words that Sancheriv sent to taunt the living God.

18 It is true that the kings of Ashur have laid waste all the countries and their lands

19 and have thrown their gods into the fire. For those were non-gods, merely the products of people's hands, wood and stone; this is why they could destroy them.

20 Now therefore, ADONAI our God, save us from his power - so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you are ADONAI - you only."

21 Then Yesha'yahu the son of Amotz sent this message to Hizkiyahu: "ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'You prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur.'

22 Here is ADONAI's answer concerning him: "'The virgin daughter of Tziyon despises you; she laughs you to scorn. The daughter of Yerushalayim shakes her head at you.

23 Whom have you taunted and insulted? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? The Holy One of Isra'el!

24 "'Through your servants you taunted Adonai. You said, "With my many chariots I have ascended the mountain heights even in the far reaches of the L'vanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best cypress trees. I reached its remotest heights and its best forests.

25 I dug [wells] and drank the water. The soles of my [soldiers'] feet dried up all the rivers of Egypt."

26 "'Haven't you heard? Long ago I made it; in antiquity I produced it; and now I am making it happen: you are turning fortified cities into heaps of ruins,

27 while their inhabitants, shorn of power, are disheartened and ashamed, weak as grass, frail as plants, like grass on the rooftops or grain scorched by the east wind.

28 "'But I know when you sit, when you leave, when you enter - and when you rage against me.

29 And because of your rage against me, because of your pride that has reached my ears, I am putting my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips; and I will make you return by the way on which you came.

30 "'This will be the sign for you [people of Isra'el]: this year, you will eat the grain that grows of itself; the second year, you will eat what grows from that; but in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 "'Meanwhile, the remnant of the house of Y'hudah that has escaped will again take root downward and bear fruit upward;

32 for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim, those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.'

33 "Therefore this is what ADONAI says concerning the king of Ashur: "'He will not come to this city or even shoot an arrow there; he will not confront it with a shield or erect earthworks against it.

34 "'By the way he came he will return; he will not come to this city,' says ADONAI.

35 'For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.'"

36 Then the angel of ADONAI went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of Ashur. Early the next morning, there they were, all of them, corpses - dead.

37 So Sancheriv king of Ashur left, went and returned to live in Ninveh.

38 One day, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisrokh his god, his sons Adramelekh and Shar'etzer struck him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. So his son Esar-Hadon took his place as king.

The Message Bible MSG

1 When King Hezekiah heard the report, he also tore his clothes and dressed in rough, penitential burlap gunnysacks, and went into the sanctuary of God.

2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them also dressed in penitential burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, "Hezekiah says, 'This is a black day. We're in crisis. We're like pregnant women without even the strength to have a baby!

4 Do you think your God heard what the Rabshekah said, sent by his master the king of Assyria to mock the living God? And do you think your God will do anything about it? Pray for us, Isaiah. Pray for those of us left here holding the fort!'"

5 Then King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said, "Tell your master this: 'God's Message: Don't be upset by what you've heard, all those words the servants of the Assyrian king have used to mock me.

7 I personally will take care of him. I'll arrange it so that he'll get a rumor of bad news back home and rush home to take care of it. And he'll die there. Killed - a violent death.'"

8 The Rabshekah left and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. (He had gotten word that the king had left Lachish.)

9 Just then the Assyrian king received an intelligence report on King Tirhakah of Ethiopia: "He is on his way to make war on you."

10 "Don't let your God, on whom you so naively lean, deceive you, promising that Jerusalem won't fall to the king of Assyria.

11 Use your head! Look around at what the kings of Assyria have done all over the world - one country after another devastated! And do you think you're going to get off?

12 Have any of the gods of any of these countries ever stepped in and saved them, even one of these nations my predecessors destroyed - Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar?

13 Look around. Do you see anything left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, the king of Ivvah?"

14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of the messengers and read it. Then he went into the sanctuary of God and spread the letter out before God.

15 Then Hezekiah prayed to God:

16 "God-of-the-Angel-Armies, enthroned over the cherubim-angels, you are God, the only God there is, God of all kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth.

17 Listen, O God, and hear. Look, O God, and see. Mark all these words of Sennacherib that he sent to mock the living God.

18 It's quite true, O God, that the kings of Assyria have devastated all the nations and their lands.

19 They've thrown their gods into the trash and burned them - no great achievement since they were no-gods anyway, gods made in workshops, carved from wood and chiseled from rock. An end to the no-gods!

20 But now step in, O God, our God. Save us from him. Let all the kingdoms of earth know that you and you alone are God."

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this word to Hezekiah: "God's Message, the God of Israel: Because you brought King Sennacherib of Assyria to me in prayer,

22 here is my answer, God's answer: "'She has no use for you, Sennacherib, nothing but contempt, this virgin daughter Zion. She spits at you and turns on her heel, this daughter Jerusalem.

23 "'Who do you think you've been mocking and reviling all these years? Who do you think you've been jeering and treating with such utter contempt All these years? The Holy of Israel!

24 You've used your servants to mock the Master. You've bragged, "With my fleet of chariots I've gone to the highest mountain ranges, penetrated the far reaches of Lebanon, Chopped down its giant cedars, its finest cypresses. I conquered its highest peak, explored its deepest forest.

25 I dug wells and drank my fill. I emptied the famous rivers of Egypt with one kick of my foot.

26 "'Haven't you gotten the news that I've been behind this all along? This is a longstanding plan of mine and I'm just now making it happen, using you to devastate strong cities, turning them into piles of rubble

27 and leaving their citizens helpless, bewildered, and confused, drooping like unwatered plants, stunted like withered seedlings.

28 "'I know all about your pretentious poses, your officious comings and goings, and, yes, the tantrums you throw against me.

29 Because of all your wild raging against me, your unbridled arrogance that I keep hearing of, I'll put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I'll show you who's boss. I'll turn you around and take you back to where you came from.

30 "'And this, Hezekiah, will be your confirming sign: This year's crops will be slim pickings, and next year it won't be much better. But in three years, farming will be back to normal, with regular sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting.

31 What's left of the people of Judah will put down roots and make a new start.

32 The people left in Jerusalem will get moving again. Mount Zion survivors will take hold again. The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies will do all this.'

33 "Finally, this is God's verdict on the king of Assyria: "'Don't worry, he won't enter this city, won't let loose a single arrow, Won't brandish so much as one shield, let alone build a siege ramp against it.

34 He'll go back the same way he came. He won't set a foot in this city. God's Decree.

35 I've got my hand on this city to save it, Save it for my very own sake, but also for the sake of my David dynasty.'"

36 Then the Angel of God arrived and struck the Assyrian camp - 185,000 Assyrians died. By the time the sun came up, they were all dead - an army of corpses!

37 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, got out of there fast, back home to Nineveh.

38 As he was worshiping in the sanctuary of his god Nisroch, he was murdered by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. They escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon became the next king.