New Revised Standard NRS
Common English Bible CEB
1 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
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When King Hezekiah heard this, he ripped his clothes, covered himself with mourning clothes, and went to the LORD's temple.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
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He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah, Amoz's son. They were all wearing mourning clothes.
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 birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
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They said to him, "Hezekiah says this: Today is a day of distress, punishment, and humiliation. It's as if children are ready to be born, but there's no strength to see it through.
4 It may be that the Lord your God heard 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."
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Perhaps the LORD your God heard all the words of the field commander who was sent by his master, Assyria's king. He insulted the living God! Perhaps he will punish him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Offer up a prayer for those few people who still survive."
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
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When King Hezekiah's servants got 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 servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.
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Isaiah said to them, "Say this to your master: The LORD says this: Don't be afraid at the words you heard, which the officers of Assyria's king have used to insult me.
7 I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.' "
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I'm about to mislead him, so when he hears a rumor, he'll go back to his own country. Then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land."
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
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The field commander heard that the Assyrian king had left Lachish. So he went back to the king and found him attacking Libnah.
9 Now the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "He has set out to fight against you." When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
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Then the Assyrian king learned that Cush's King Tirhakah was on his way to fight against him. So he sent messengers to Hezekiah again:
10 "Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
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"Say this to Judah's King Hezekiah: Don't let the God you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem won't fall to the Assyrian king.'
11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?
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You yourself have heard what Assyrian kings do to other countries, wiping them out. Is it likely that you will be saved?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?
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Did the gods of the nations that my ancestors destroyed save them, the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the people of Eden in Telassar?
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?"
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Where now is Hamath's king, Arpad's king, or the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?"
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.
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Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers and read them. Then he went to the temple and spread them out before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:
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Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
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"LORD of heavenly forces, God of Israel: you sit enthroned on the winged creatures. You alone are God over all the earth's kingdoms. You made both heaven and earth.
17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
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LORD, turn your ear this way and hear! LORD, open your eyes and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words. He sent them to insult the living God!
18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
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It's true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed all the nations and their lands.
19 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods, but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed.
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The Assyrians burned the gods of those nations with fire because they aren't real gods. They are only man-made creations of wood and stone. That's how the Assyrians could destroy them.
20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."
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So now, LORD our God, please save us from Sennacherib's power! Then all the earth's kingdoms will know that you alone are LORD."
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,
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Then Isaiah, Amoz's son, sent a message to Hezekiah: The LORD God of Israel says this: Since you prayed to me about Assyria's King Sennacherib,
22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you— virgin daughter Zion; she tosses her head—behind your back, daughter Jerusalem.
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this is the message that the LORD has spoken against him: The young woman, Daughter Zion, despises you and mocks you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back.
23 "Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
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Whom did you insult and ridicule? Against whom did you raise your voice and look on with disdain? It was against the holy one of Israel!
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; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I came to its remotest height, its densest forest.
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With your servants, you've insulted the Lord; you said, "I, with my many chariots, have gone up to the highest mountains, to the farthest reaches of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the best of its pine trees. I have reached its most remote lodging place, its best forest.
25 I dug wells and drank waters, I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.'
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I have dug wells, have drunk water in foreign lands. With my own feet, I dried up all of Egypt's streams."
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,
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Haven't you heard? I set this up long ago; I planned it in the distant past! Now I have made it happen, making fortified cities collapse into piles of rubble.
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded; they have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
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Their citizens have lost their power; they are frightened and dismayed. They've become like plants in a field, tender green shoots, the grass on rooftops, blasted by the east wind.
28 "I know your rising up and your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.
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I know where you are, how you go out and come in, and how you rage against me.
29 Because you have raged against me and your arrogance has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will turn you back on the way by which you came.
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Because you rage against me and because your pride has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you go back the same way you came.
30 "And this shall be the sign for you: This year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
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Now this will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year, plant seed and harvest it; plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward;
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The survivors of Judah's family who have escaped will put down roots and bear fruit above.
32 for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out, and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
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Those who remain will go out from Jerusalem, and those who survive will go out from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of heavenly forces will do this.
33 "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it.
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Therefore, the LORD says this about Assyria's king: He won't enter this city. He won't shoot a single arrow here. He won't come near the city with a shield. He won't build a ramp to besiege it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city, says the Lord.
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He'll go back by the same way he came. He won't enter 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."
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I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.
36 Then the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.
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The LORD's messenger went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere.
37 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh.
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So Assyria's King Sennacherib left and went back to Nineveh, where he stayed.
38 As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him.
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Later, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon ruled after him.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible