2Ki 19 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes , covered himself with sackcloth , and entered the house of the Lord .

2 Kings 19

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 ^aNow when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^btore his clothes, ^ccovered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^dcovered with sackcloth, to ^eIsaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 ^fPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^gto taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^hthe remnant that is ^{▼▼Lit found}left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^jservants of the king of Assyria ^khave blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^lhe will hear news and return to his own land. And ^mI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ⁿLibnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^oLachish. 9 When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^{▼▼Or Ethiopia}Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^{▼▼Lit Judah, saying,}Judah: ‘Do not ^rlet your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “ ^sJerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 ^tDid the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^uGozan, ^vHaran, Rezeph, and ^wthe sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ^xWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Then ^yHezekiah took the ^{▼▼Lit letters...read them}letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^{▼▼Lit Hezekiah spread}spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^{▼▼Lit sitting
,} ^acenthroned above the cherubim, ^adYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 ^aeIncline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^afopen Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^agto taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have ^{▼▼Lit given}hurled their gods into the fire; ^aifor they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^ajso that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^akLord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^alI have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She, ^amthe virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you;
She, the daughter of Jerusalem, ^anhas shaken her head behind you!
22 ‘Whom have you ^aotaunted and ^apblasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And ^{▼▼Lit on high}haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the ^arHoly One of Israel!
23 ‘ ^asThrough your messengers you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I went up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers.
And I entered its farthest resting place, its ^atthickest forest.
24 “I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the soles of my feet I ^audried up
All the streams of Egypt.”

25 ‘ ^avHave you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
^awNow I have brought it about,
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
26 ‘Therefore their inhabitants were ^{▼▼Lit short of hand}powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame.
They were ^aylike the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
27 ‘But ^azI know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I ^bawill put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And ^bbI will turn you back by the way by which you came.
29 ‘Then this shall be ^bcthe sign for you: ^{▼▼Lit to eat}you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ^beThe survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^bfout of Mount Zion. ^bgThe zeal of ^{▼▼Some ancient mss the Lord of armies}the Lord will perform this.

32 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “ ^biHe will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 33 ^bjBy the way that he came, by ^{▼▼Lit it}the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘ ^blFor I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^bmfor My servant David’s sake.’”

35 ^bnThen it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^{▼▼Lit them}the 185,000 were ^{▼▼Lit dead bodies}dead. 36 So ^bqSennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^{▼▼Lit went and returned}returned home, and lived at ^bsNineveh. 37 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^{▼▼Some ancient mss his sons Adrammelech
,} ^buAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^bvthe land of Ararat. And his son ^bwEsarhaddon became king in his place.