Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance (Isaiah 37:1–7)
1 Brenton And it came to pass when king Ezekias heard it, that he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. BSB BSB: On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
3 Brenton And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias, This day is a day of tribulation, and rebuke, and provocation: for the children are come to the travail-pangs , but the mother has no strength. BSB BSB: to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
4 Brenton Peradventure the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rapsakes, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God and to revile him with the words which the Lord thy God has heard: and thou shalt offer thy prayer for the remnant that is found. BSB BSB: Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5 Brenton So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias. BSB BSB: So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 Brenton And Esaias said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed. BSB BSB: who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7 Brenton Behold, I send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land. BSB BSB: Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter (Isaiah 37:8–13)
8 Brenton So Rapsakes returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Lobna: for he heard that he had departed from Lachis. BSB BSB: When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Brenton And he heard concerning Tharaca king of the Ethiopians, saying, Behold, he is come forth to fight with thee: and he returned, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying, BSB BSB: Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Brenton Let not thy God on whom thou trustest encourage thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. BSB BSB: “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Brenton Behold, thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done in all the lands, to waste them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? BSB BSB: Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
12 Brenton Have the gods of the nations at all delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed; both Gozan, and Charran, and Raphis, and the sons of Edem who were in Thaesthen? BSB BSB: Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
13 Brenton Where is the king of Hæmath, and the king of Arphad? and where is the king of the city of Seppharvaim, of Ana, and Aba? BSB BSB: Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer (Isaiah 37:14–20)
14 Brenton And Ezekias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezekias spread it before the Lord, BSB BSB: So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 Brenton and said, O Lord God of Israel, that dwellest over the cherubs, thou art the only God in all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. BSB BSB: And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
16 Brenton Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God. BSB BSB: Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
17 Brenton For truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have wasted the nations, BSB BSB: Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 Brenton and have cast their gods into the fire: because they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed them. BSB BSB: They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
19 Brenton And now, O Lord our God, deliver us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that thou alone art the Lord God. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
Sennacherib’s Fall Prophesied (Isaiah 37:21–35)
20 Brenton And Esaias the son of Amos sent to Ezekias, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, I have heard thy prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians. BSB BSB: Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
21 Brenton This is the word which the Lord has spoken against him; The virgin daughter of Sion has made light of thee, and mocked thee; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee. BSB BSB: This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
22 Brenton Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou reviled? and against whom hast thou lifted up thy voice, and raised thine eyes on high? Is it against the Holy One of Israel? BSB BSB: Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 Brenton By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, I will go up with the multitude of my chariots, to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Libanus, and I have cut down the height of his cedar, and his choice cypresses; and I have come into the midst of the forest and of Carmel. BSB BSB: Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.
24 Brenton I have refreshed myself , and have drunk strange waters, and I have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of fortified places. BSB BSB: I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 Brenton I have brought about the matter , I have brought it to a conclusion; and it is come to the destruction of the bands of warlike prisoners, even of strong cities. BSB BSB: Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
26 Brenton And they that dwelt in them were weak in hand, they quaked and were confounded, they became as grass of the field, or as the green herb, the grass growing on houses, and that which is trodden down by him that stands upon it . BSB BSB: Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
27 Brenton But I know thy down-sitting, and thy going forth, and thy rage against me. BSB BSB: But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
28 Brenton Because thou wast angry against me, and thy fierceness is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hooks in thy nostrils, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. BSB BSB: Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
29 Brenton And this shall be a sign to thee; eat this year the things that grow of themselves, and in the second year the things which spring up: and in the third year let there be sowing, and reaping, and planting of vineyards, and eat ye the fruit of them. BSB BSB: And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Brenton And he shall increase him that has escaped of the house of Juda: and the remnant shall strike root beneath, and it shall produce fruit above. BSB BSB: And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
31 Brenton For from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and he that escapes from the mountain of Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. BSB BSB: For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
33 Brenton By the way by which he comes, by it shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, saith the Lord. BSB BSB: He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
34 Brenton And I will defend this city as with a shield, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. BSB BSB: I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians (2 Chronicles 32:20–23; Isaiah 37:36–38)
35 Brenton And it came to pass at night that the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they rose early in the morning, and, behold, these were all dead corpses. BSB BSB: And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
36 Brenton And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineve. BSB BSB: So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
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