የኢየሩሳሌም ዐርነት ታወጀ
1ንጉሡ ሕዝቅያስ ይህን ሲሰማ፣ ልብሱን ቀደደ፤ ማቅ ለበሰ፤ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ገባ። 2የቤተ መንግሥቱን አስተዳዳሪ ኤልያቄምንና ጸሓፊውን ሳምናስን እንዲሁም ከካህናቱ ዋና ዋናዎቹን ማቅ ለብሰው ሁሉም ወደ አሞጽ ልጅ ወደ ነቢዩ ኢሳይያስ እንዲሄዱ ላካቸው። 3እነርሱም እንዲህ አሉት፤ “ሕዝቅያስ እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘ይህ ቀን የጭንቀት፣ የተግሣጽና የውርደት ቀን ነው፤ ሕፃናት ሊወለዱ ሲሉ ብርታት እንደሚታጣበት ቀን ሆኗል። 4ሕያው አምላክን ይገዳደር ዘንድ ጌታው የአሦር ንጉሥ የላከውን የጦር አዛዡን ቃል እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ ይሰማ ይሆናል፤ እግዚአብሔር አምላክህም ሰምቶ ይገሥጸው ይሆናል፤ ስለዚህ አንተም በሕይወት ለተረፉት ቅሬታዎች ጸልይ።’ ”
5የንጉሡ የሕዝቅያስ መልእክተኞች ወደ ኢሳይያስ መጡ፤ 6ኢሳይያስም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ጌታችሁን እንዲህ በሉት፤ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘የአሦር ንጉሥ ባሪያዎች እኔን ስለ ሰደቡኝ፣ በሰማኸው ቃል አትሸበር። 7እነሆ፤ በላዩ መንፈስን እሰድዳለሁ፤ ወሬም ሰምቶ ወደ አገሩ ይመለሳል፤ በገዛ አገሩም በሰይፍ እንዲወድቅ አደርጋለሁ።’ ”
8የጦር አዛዡም፣ የአሦር ንጉሥ ለኪሶን ለቅቆ መሄዱን ሲሰማ፣ ከነበረበት ተመለሰ፤ ንጉሡም የልብናን ከተማ ሲወጋ አገኘው።
9ደግሞም ሰናክሬም፣ የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሥ ቲርሐቅ ሊወጋው መምጣቱን ሰማ፤ ይህንም እንደ ሰማ ወደ ሕዝቅያስ መልእክተኞች ላከ፤ እንዲህም አለ፤ 10“ለይሁዳ ንጉሥ ለሕዝቅያስ እንዲህ በሉት፤ ‘ኢየሩሳሌም በአሦር ንጉሥ አትያዝም’ ብሎ የተማመንህበት አምላክ አያታልልህ። 11እነሆ፤ የአሦር ነገሥታት በአገሮች ሁሉ ላይ ያደረጉትን፣ ፈጽሞም እንዳጠፏቸው ሰምተሃል፤ አንተስ የምታመልጥ ይመስልሃልን? 12የቀደሙት አባቶቼ ያጠፏቸውን፣ የጎዛንን፣ የካራንን፣ የራፊስን እንዲሁም በተላሳር የሚኖሩ የዔድንን ሰዎች የአሕዛብ አማልክት አድነዋቸዋልን? 13የሐማት ንጉሥ፣ የአርፋድ ንጉሥ፣ የሴፈርዋይም ከተማ ንጉሥ፣ የሄና ንጉሥ ወይም የዒዋ ንጉሥ የት አሉ?”
የሕዝቅያስ ጸሎት
14ሕዝቅያስ ደብዳቤውን ከመልእክተኞቹ ተቀብሎ አነበበው፤ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ወጥቶም ደብዳቤውን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ዘረጋው። 15ሕዝቅያስም እንዲህ ሲል ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጸለየ፤ 16“በኪሩቤል ላይ የምትቀመጥ፣ የእስራኤል አምላክ፣ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ በምድር ባሉ መንግሥታት ሁሉ ላይ አንተ ብቻ አምላክ ነህ፤ ሰማይንና ምድርንም ፈጥረሃል። 17አቤቱ፣ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ጆሮህን አዘንብል፤ አድምጥም። እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ዐይኖችህን ክፈት፤ ተመልከትም። ሰናክሬም ሕያው አምላክን ለመሳደብ የላከውን ቃል ስማ።
18“እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ በርግጥ የአሦር ነገሥታት እነዚህን ሕዝቦች፣ ምድራቸውንም ሁሉ ባድማ አድርገዋል። 19አማልክታቸውን ወደ እሳት ጥለዋል፤ በሰው እጅ የተቀረጹ የድንጋይና የዕንጨት ምስሎች እንጂ አማልክት አልነበሩምና። 20አሁንም፣ እግዚአብሔር አምላካችን ሆይ፤ የምድር መንግሥታት ሁሉ አንተ እግዚአብሔር ብቻ አምላክ እንደ ሆንህ ያውቁ ዘንድ፣ አቤቱ ከእጁ አድነን።”
የሰናክሬም ውድቀት
21ከዚህ በኋላ የአሞጽ ልጅ ኢሳይያስ እንዲህ የሚል መልእክት ወደ ሕዝቅያስ ላከ፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ስለ አሦር ንጉሥ፣ ስለ ሰናክሬም ወደ እኔ ጸልየሃልና፣ 22እግዚአብሔር በእርሱ ላይ የተናገረው ቃል ይህ ነው፤
“ድንግሊቱ የጽዮን ልጅ፣
ንቃሃለች፣ አፊዛብሃለች፤
የኢየሩሳሌም ልጅ፣
አንተ ስትሸሽ ራሷን ነቅንቃብሃለች።
23የሰደብኸውና ያቃለልኸው ማንን ነው?
ድምፅህንስ ከፍ ከፍ ያደረግኸው፣
ዐይንህን በትዕቢት ያነሣኸው በማን ላይ ነው?
በእስራኤል ቅዱስ ላይ ነው እኮ!
24በመልእክተኞችህ በኩል፣
በጌታ ላይ ብዙ የስድብ ቃል ተናገርህ፤
እንዲህም አልህ፤
‘በሠረገሎቼ ብዛት፣
የተራሮችንም ከፍታ፣
የሊባኖስንም ጫፍ ወጥቻለሁ፤
ረጃጅም ዝግባዎችን፣
የተመረጡ ጥዶችን ቈርጫለሁ፤
እጅግ ወደራቁት ከፍታዎች፣
እጅግ ውብ ወደሆኑትም ደኖች ደርሻለሁ፤
25በባዕድ ምድር37፥25 የሙት ባሕር ቅጆች (እንዲሁም 2ነገ 19፥24 ይመ) ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ የማሶሬቱ ቅጅ ግን፣ በባዕድ ምድር የሚለውን ሐረግ አይጨምርም። ጕድጓዶችን ቈፈርሁ፤
ከዚያም ውሃ ጠጣሁ።
የግብፅን ምንጮች ሁሉ፣
በእግሬ ረግጬ አደረቅሁ።’
26“ይህን ቀድሞ እንደ ወሰንሁት፣
ጥንትም እንዳቀድሁት፣
አልሰማህምን?
አሁን ደግሞ እንዲፈጸም አደረግሁት፤
አንተም የተመሸጉትን ከተሞች የድንጋይ
ክምር አደረግሃቸው።
27የሕዝቦቻቸው ኀይል ተሟጥጧል፤
ደንግጠዋል፤ ተዋርደዋልም፤
በሜዳ እንዳሉ ዕፀዋት፣
እንደ ለጋ ቡቃያ፣
በሰገነት ላይ እንደ በቀለ ሣር፣
በእንጭጩ ዋግ እንደ መታው ሆነዋል።
28“ ‘እኔ ግን የት እንዳለህ፣
መምጣት መሄድህ ምን ጊዜ እንደ ሆነ፣
በእኔም ላይ እንዴት በቍጣ እንደምትነሣሣ ዐውቃለሁ።
29በእኔ ላይ በቍጣ ስለ ተነሣሣህ፣
እብሪትህም ወደ ጆሮዬ ስለ ደረሰ፣
በአፍንጫህ ስናጌን፣
በአፍህ ልጓሜን አገባለሁ፤
በመጣህበትም መንገድ እንድትመለስ
አደርግሃለሁ።’
30“ሕዝቅያስ ሆይ፤ ይህ ምልክት ይሆንልሃል፤
“በዚህ ዓመት የገቦውን፣
በሚቀጥለው ዓመት ከገቦው የበቀለውን ትበላላችሁ፤
በሦስተኛው ዓመት ግን ትዘራላችሁ፤ ታጭዳላችሁ፤
ወይን ትተክላላችሁ፤ ፍሬውንም ትበላላችሁ።
31እንደ ገናም የይሁዳ ቤት ቅሬታ፣
ሥሩን ወደ ታች ይሰድዳል፤ ከላይም ፍሬ ያፈራል፤
32ቅሬታ የሆኑት ከኢየሩሳሌም፣
የተረፉትም ከጽዮን ተራራ ይመጣሉና፤
የሰራዊት ጌታ የእግዚአብሔር ቅናት
ይህን ያደርጋል።
33“ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ስለ አሦር ንጉሥ እንዲህ ይላል፤
“ወደዚች ከተማ አይገባም፤
ፍላጻ አይወረውርባትም፤
ጋሻ አንግቦ አይመጣባትም፤
በዐፈር ቍልልም አይከብባትም።
34በመጣበት መንገድ ይመለሳል፤
ወደዚች ከተማም አይገባም”
ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
35“ስለ ራሴና፣ ስለ አገልጋዬም ስለ ዳዊት፣
ይህችን ከተማ እጋርዳታለሁ፤ አድናታለሁም።”
36ከዚያም የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ወጣ፤ ከአሦራውያን ሰፈር አንድ መቶ ሰማንያ አምስት ሺሕ ሰው ገደለ፤ በሰፈር ያሉት ማለዳ ሲነሡ፤ ቦታው ሬሳ በሬሳ ነበር። 37ስለዚህ የአሦር ንጉሥ ሰናክሬም አመለጠ፤ ወደ ነነዌም ተመልሶ በዚያ ተቀመጠ።
38ሰናክሬም በአምላኩ በናሳራክ ቤተ ጣዖት በሚሰግድበት ጊዜ፣ ልጆቹ አድራሜሌክና ሳራሳር በሰይፍ ገደሉት፤ ከዚያም ወደ አራራት ምድር ኰበለሉ፤ ልጁም አስራዶን በምትኩ ነገሠ።
Jerusalem’s deliverance foretold
1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3They told him, ‘This is what Hezekiah says: this day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.’
5When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master, “This is what the Lord says: do not be afraid of what you have heard – those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” ’
8When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,37:9 That is, the upper Nile region was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10‘Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.” 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them – the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’
Hezekiah’s prayer
14Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16‘Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
18‘It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord’
Sennacherib’s fall
21Then 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, 22this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
23Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25I have dug wells in foreign lands37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26‘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 have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
27Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields before it grows up.
28‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
29Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.
30‘This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
‘This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
32For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
33‘Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
34By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,’
declares the Lord.
35‘I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!’
36Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning – there were all the dead bodies! 37So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38One day, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
