Isaiah 37
Complete Jewish Bible
37 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.
Isaiah 37
English Standard Version
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 (A)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet (B)Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (C)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; (D)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (E)It may be that the Lord your God will hear 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 (F)the remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came 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 young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, (G)I will put a spirit in him, so that (H)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and (I)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (J)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (K)Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of (L)Cush,[a] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: (M)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (N)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (O)Gozan, (P)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (Q)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?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 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 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, (R)enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; (S)you have made the heavens and the earth. 17 (T)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear (U)all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, (V)the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
(W)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (X)the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (Y)With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
(Z)to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all (AA)the streams (AB)of Egypt.
26 (AC)“‘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,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted[b] before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 (AD)Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (AE)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (AF)shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 (AG)For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. (AH)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or (AI)cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 (AJ)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for (AK)the sake of my servant David.”
36 (AL)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at (AM)Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of (AN)Ararat, (AO)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
