Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance (2 Kings 19:1–7)
1 DBY And it came to pass when king Hezekiah heard it , that he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. BSB BSB: On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
2 DBY And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. BSB BSB: And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz
3 DBY And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of reviling; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 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 DBY It may be Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left. BSB BSB: Perhaps the LORD your God will hear 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 DBY And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. BSB BSB: So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 DBY And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 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 DBY Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by 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 (2 Kings 19:8–13)
8 DBY And Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. BSB BSB: When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 DBY And he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He has come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it , he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, BSB BSB: Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 DBY Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Let not thy God, upon whom thou reliest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 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 DBY Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, destroying 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 DBY Have the gods of the nations which my fathers have destroyed delivered them, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Thelassar? 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 DBY Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? BSB BSB: Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer (2 Kings 19:14–19)
14 DBY And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up into the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. 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 DBY And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah, saying, BSB BSB: And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 DBY Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim, thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth. BSB BSB: “O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
17 DBY Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open, Jehovah, thine eyes, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God. BSB BSB: Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
18 DBY Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the lands, and their countries, BSB BSB: Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 DBY and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work 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.
20 DBY And now, Jehovah our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, thou only. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD our God, 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 (2 Kings 19:20–34)
21 DBY And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, BSB BSB: Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 DBY this is the word which Jehovah hath spoken against him: The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh 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.
23 DBY Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted the voice? Against the Holy One of Israel hast thou lifted up thine eyes on high. 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!
24 DBY By thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the recesses of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its cypresses; and I will enter into its furthest height, into the forest of its fruitful field. 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 heights, the densest of its forests.
25 DBY I have digged and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of Matsor. 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.”
26 DBY Hast thou not heard that long ago I did it, and that from ancient days I formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 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.
27 DBY And their inhabitants were powerless, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the grass of the field and the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and grain blighted before it be grown up. 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.
28 DBY But I know thine abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. BSB BSB: But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
29 DBY Because thy raging against me and thine arrogance is come up into mine ears, I will put my ring in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will make thee go 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.’
30 DBY And this shall be the sign unto thee: there shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same; but in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof. 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.
31 DBY And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; BSB BSB: And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 DBY for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape: the zeal of Jehovah 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 DBY Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. BSB BSB: So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
34 DBY By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith Jehovah. BSB BSB: He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD.
35 DBY And I will defend this city, to save it, for mine 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 Kings 19:35–37; 2 Chronicles 32:20–23)
36 DBY And an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. BSB BSB: Then 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!
37 DBY And Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and abode at Nineveh. BSB BSB: So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 DBY And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. BSB BSB: One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.