Isaiah Assures Deliverance^(A)

19 And ^(B)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with ^(C)sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to ^[a]bring them forth. ^4 (D)It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ^(E)reproach the living God, and will ^(F)rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ^6 (G)And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be ^(H)afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the ^(I)servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Surely I will send ^(J)a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer^(K)

⁸ Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed ^(L)from Lachish. ⁹ And ^(M)the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God ^(N)in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? ^12 (O)Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of ^(P)Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”

^14 (R)And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. ¹⁵ Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One ^(S)who dwells between the cherubim, ^(T)You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (U)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(V)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, ^(W)which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were ^(X)not gods, but ^(Y)the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, ^(Z)that all the kingdoms of the earth may ^(AA)know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”