Isaiah 37; Isaiah 38; Colossians 3

Isaiah 37

1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord.

2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth.

3 This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it.

4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive."

5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message,

6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you.

7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there."

8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him.

9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah

10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you.

11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape?

12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them.

13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?"

14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord,

15 and prayed,

16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky.

17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God.

18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate,

19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands.

20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God."

21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer

22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you.

23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel.

24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests.

25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry.

26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.

27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them.

28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me.

29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came."

30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes.

31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit.

32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen.

33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it.

34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken.

35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

37 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh.

38 One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

Isaiah 38

1 About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die."

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed:

3 "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly.

4 Then the Lord commanded Isaiah

5 to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer.

6 I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city."

7 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise.

8 On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the Lord will make the shadow go back ten steps." And the shadow moved back ten steps.

9 After Hezekiah recovered from his illness, he wrote this song of praise:

10 I thought that in the prime of life I was going to the world of the dead, Never to live out my life.

11 I thought that in this world of the living I would never again see the Lord Or any living person.

12 My life was cut off and ended, Like a tent that is taken down, Like cloth that is cut from a loom. I thought that God was ending my life.

13 All night I cried out with pain, As if a lion were breaking my bones. I thought that God was ending my life.

14 My voice was thin and weak, And I moaned like a dove. My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven. Lord, rescue me from all this trouble.

15 What can I say? The Lord has done this. My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep.

16 Lord, I will live for you, for you alone; Heal me and let me live.

17 My bitterness will turn into peace. You save my life from all danger; You forgive all my sins.

18 No one in the world of the dead can praise you; The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness.

19 It is the living who praise you, As I praise you now. Parents tell their children how faithful you are.

20 Lord, you have healed me. We will play harps and sing your praise, Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live.

21 Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well.

22 Then King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?"

Colossians 3

1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God.

2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory!

5 You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry).

6 Because of such things God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.

7 At one time you yourselves used to live according to such desires, when your life was dominated by them.

8 But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips.

9 Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits

10 and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself.

11 As a result, there is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves, and free, but Christ is all, Christ is in all.

12 You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

13 Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.

14 And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.

15 The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.

16 Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.

17 Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.

18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians.

19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20 Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents always, for that is what pleases God.

21 Parents, do not irritate your children, or they will become discouraged.

22 Slaves, obey your human masters in all things, not only when they are watching you because you want to gain their approval; but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord.

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.

24 Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.

25 And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong things they do, because God judges everyone by the same standard.