Isaiah Promises Deliverance
4 Kingdoms 19, verse 1. When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 2. Then he sent Eliakim, the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 3. They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of tribulation and rebuke and great anger. For in the time the children are to be born, the mother has no strength. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 4. If in any way the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to insult the living God and revile him with words which the Lord your God has heard, perhaps you will offer a prayer concerning the remnant that is found.’” 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 5. So the servants of King Hezekiah appeared before Isaiah, 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 6. and Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words of blasphemy you heard uttered by the king of Assyria's servants. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 7. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will strike him down by the sword in his own land.”’”
Assyria Makes Another Threat
4 Kingdoms 19, verse 8. Having heard the king had departed from Lachish, Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 9. And concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, he had heard it being said, “Look! Tirhakah king of Ethiopia has come out to make war with you.” So he returned, but sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 10. “Do not let your God in whom you trust exalt you, saying, ‘Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 11. Listen! You have heard about what all the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, utterly destroying them, and you think you shall be delivered? 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 12. Did the gods of the nations deliver those my fathers destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 13. Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?” 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 14. So Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord, 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 15. and said, “Lord God of Israel, enthroned on the cherubim, You alone are God in all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 16. O Lord, incline Your ear and hear. O Lord, open Your eyes and see. Hear the words Sennacherib sent to reproach the living God. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 17. O Lord, truly the kings of Assyria laid waste the nations 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 18. and cast the gods of these nations into the fire, because they are not gods, but only the work of men's hands, of wood and of stone, and they destroyed them. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 19. Now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You alone are the Lord God.”
Isaiah's Word to King Hezekiah
4 Kingdoms 19, verse 20. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I heard the things you prayed concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 21. This is the word which the Lord spoke against Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despised you, laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem shook her head at you! 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 22. Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice? You lifted up your eyes against the Holy One of Israel! 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 23. By the hand of your messengers you reproached the Lord and said, “With the multitude of my chariots I came up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of Lebanon, and I shall cut down its tall cedars and its choicest cypress trees, and I entered the midst of the forest of Carmel. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 24. I refreshed myself and drank the water of strangers, and with the sole of my foot I desolated all the rivers of defense.” 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 25. I formed her and made her so strong that she was effectual against fortified cities, 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 26. and those who lived there were too weak, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field and the green herb, like tender shoots on the housetops and grain blighted before it is grown. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 27. But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against Me. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 28. Because you rage against Me, and your insolence has come up to My ears, therefore I will put My hook in your noses and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way you came.’ 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 29. “This shall be a sign to you. This year you shall eat what grows by itself, and in the second year what springs from it. Then in the third year you shall sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 30. And the remnant of the house of Judah who escaped shall again take root in the soil, and shall bear fruit on its branches. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 31. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and he who is being delivered out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 32. Is it not so? Thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He shall not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor will a shield come before it, nor will he build a siege mound against it. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 33. By the way he came, by the same way he shall return. And he shall not come into this city,’ says the Lord. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 34. ‘For I will defend this city for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’” 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 35. And it came about that the angel of the Lord went out while it was yet night, and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When they arose early in the morning, all the dead bodies were there. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 36. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and left from there. He returned and dwelt in Nineveh. 4 Kingdoms 19, verse 37. Later it happened, while he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.