Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance (Isaiah 37:1–7)
1 ULT And it happened when King Hezekiah heard that he tore his clothes, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and he went{ into} the house of Yahweh. BSB BSB: On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
3 ULT And they said to him,“Thus says Hezekiah,‘This day{ is} a day of trouble and chastisement and reproach, for sons have come to the birth canal, but{ there is} no strength to give birth. 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 ULT Perhaps Yahweh your God will have heard all of the words of the Rabshakeh, him whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to taunt the living God, and he will chastise the words that Yahweh your God has heard. And may you lift up a prayer on behalf of 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 ULT And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, BSB BSB: So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 ULT and Isaiah said to them,“Thus you shall say to your master,‘Thus says Yahweh,“Do not be afraid from the face of the words that you have heard,{ by} which 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 ULT Behold me, putting a spirit in him, and he will hear a report, and he will return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his 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 ULT And the Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of Assyria fighting 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 ULT Then he heard concerning Tirhakah, the king of Cush, saying,“Behold, he has come out to fight with you.” And he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah, 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 ULT “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying,‘Do not let your God, in whom you are trusting, deceive you, saying,“Jerusalem will not be given 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 ULT Behold, you, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all of the lands by destroying them. So you, will you 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 ULT Did the gods of the nations that my fathers destroyed deliver them, Gozan or Haran or Rezeph or the sons of Eden who{ were} in Tel Assar? 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 ULT Where{ is} the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’” BSB BSB: Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer (Isaiah 37:14–20)
14 ULT And Hezekiah took the writings from the hand of the messengers, and he read them. And he went up{ to} the house of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out to the face of Yahweh. 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 ULT And Hezekiah prayed to the face of Yahweh and said,“Yahweh, the God of Israel, sitting{ above} the cherubim, you{ are} he, God, you alone, over all of the kingdoms of the earth. You, you made the heavens and the 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 ULT Incline your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. And hear the words of Sennacherib{ by} which he has sent it to taunt 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 ULT Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their land. BSB BSB: Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 ULT And they have put their gods in the fire, for they{ are} not gods, but rather the work of the hands of man, 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 ULT And now, Yahweh our God, please save us from his hand, so that all of the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Yahweh,{ are} God, you alone.” 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 ULT And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying,“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel,‘What you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, I have heard.’ 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 ULT This{ is} the word that Yahweh has spoken about him.‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despises you, she derides you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes a head after you. 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 ULT Whom have you mocked and taunted? And against whom have you raised a voice and lifted your eyes upward? 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 ULT By the hand of your messengers you mocked the Lord and said,“With the multitude of my chariotry, I, I went up{ to} the height of the mountains, the recesses of Lebanon. And I cut down the heights of its cedars, the choicest of its cypress trees, that I might enter the lodging place of its end, the forest of its garden. 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 ULT I, I dug, and I drank foreign waters. And with the sole of my feet I will dry up all of 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.”
25 ULT Have you not heard? From long ago, I did it; from days of antiquity, I formed it. Now I have brought it, that you should be for devastating fortified cities{ into} ruined 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.
26 ULT And their dwellers{ are} short of hand; they feel dismay and feel shame. They are vegetation of the field or green of herb; grass of roofs, blasting to the face of growing 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.
27 ULT But I know your dwelling and your going out and your coming in and your raging against me. BSB BSB: But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
28 ULT Because of your raging against me, and your arrogance has come up into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your lips, and I will make you return on the way by which you came.’ 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 ULT And this{ will be} the sign for you. This year, you will eat wild grain, and in the second year,{ its} offspring. But in the third year, sow and harvest, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 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 ULT And the remaining survival of the house of Judah will again{ take} root downward, and it will make fruit upward. BSB BSB: And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
31 ULT For a remnant will come out from Jerusalem, and a survival from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh will 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 ULT He will return by the way on which he came, and he will not come to this city.’ The declaration of Yahweh. BSB BSB: He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
34 ULT ‘For I will cover over this city to save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’” 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 ULT And it happened in that night that the angel of Yahweh went out and struck in the camp of Assyria 185, 000. And they arose early in the morning and behold, all of them{ were} 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 ULT And he departed and went, and Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, returned and stayed in Nineveh. BSB BSB: So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.