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 all 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,19:9 That is, the upper Nile region was marching out to fight against him. So he again 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: “Lord, 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. 16Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall
20Then 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. 21This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“ ‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22Who 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!
23By 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 parts,
the finest of its forests.
24I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25“ ‘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.
26Their 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,
scorched before it grows up.
27“ ‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28Because 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.’
29“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.
30Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
31For 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.
32“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.
33By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ”
35That night 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! 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37One day, while he was worshiping 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.
希西迦向以赛亚求助
1希西迦王听后就撕裂衣服，披上麻衣，进入耶和华的殿。 2他派身披麻衣的宫廷总管以利亚敬、书记舍伯那和祭司中的长者，去见亚摩斯的儿子以赛亚先知， 3对他说：“希西迦说，‘今天是遭难、蒙羞、受辱的日子，就像婴儿要出生，产妇却无力生产一样。 4亚述王派他的将军来辱骂永活的上帝，也许你的上帝耶和华听见那些话，就会惩罚他。因此，请你为我们这些剩下的人祷告。’” 5希西迦王的臣仆前来见以赛亚， 6以赛亚对他们说：“告诉你们主人，耶和华这样说，‘你不要因为听到亚述王的仆人那些亵渎我的话而害怕。 7我必惊动19:7 “惊动”希伯来文是“使灵进入”。亚述王的心，让他听见一些风声后便返回本国，使他在那里死于刀下。’”
希西迦向上帝祷告
8亚述的将军听说亚述王已经离开拉吉，便回去见王，发现王在攻打立拿。 9亚述王听说古实王特哈加来攻打他，便再次派使者去见希西迦，说： 10“不要让你所倚靠的上帝愚弄你，说什么耶路撒冷必不会落在亚述王手中。 11你肯定听过亚述诸王扫灭列国的事，难道你能幸免吗？ 12我先祖毁灭了歌散、哈兰、利色和提·拉撒的伊甸，这些国家的神明救得了他们吗？ 13哈马王、亚珥拔王、西法瓦音王、希拿王和以瓦王如今在哪里呢？”
14希西迦从使者手中接过信，读完后上到耶和华的殿，在耶和华面前展开信， 15祷告说：“坐在基路伯天使之上、以色列的上帝耶和华啊，唯有你是天下万国的上帝，你创造了天地。 16耶和华啊，求你侧耳垂听！耶和华啊，求你睁眼察看！求你听听西拿基立派人来辱骂永活上帝的话。 17耶和华啊，亚述诸王确实扫灭列国，使他们的土地荒凉， 18把他们的神像扔进火中烧毁。因为那些神像只是人用木头石头制造的，根本不是神明。 19我们的上帝耶和华啊，现在求你从亚述王手中拯救我们，让天下万国都知道唯有你耶和华是上帝。”
以赛亚给希西迦的信息
20亚摩斯的儿子以赛亚派人对希西迦说：“以色列的上帝耶和华说，‘我已经听见你关于亚述王西拿基立的祷告。 21以下是耶和华对他的判语，
“‘处女锡安藐视你，嘲笑你；
少女耶路撒冷朝你的背影摇头。
22你侮辱、亵渎谁呢？
你高声谩骂、傲眼蔑视谁呢？
是以色列的圣者！
23你借你的使者辱骂主，
你说你率领许多战车上到高山，
上到黎巴嫩的顶峰，
砍下最高的香柏树和上好的松树，
征服最高的山和最美的树林。
24你说你已在外邦之地挖井取水，
已用脚掌踏干埃及所有的河流。
25“‘难道你没有听过这是我起初所定、
亘古筹划的吗？
如今我实现了所定的计划：
借着你使坚城沦为废墟。
26城中的居民软弱无力，
惊慌失措，羞愧难当，
脆弱如野草和菜蔬，
又像还未长大就被晒焦的房顶草。
27“‘你起你坐，你出你进，
你向我发怒，我都知道。
28因为你向我发怒，
你狂傲的话传到了我耳中，
我要用钩子钩住你的鼻子，
把嚼环放在你嘴里，
使你原路返回。’
29“希西迦啊，我要给你一个兆头，你们今年要吃野生的，明年要吃自然生长的，后年要播种收割，栽种葡萄园，吃园中的果子。 30犹大的幸存者要再次向下扎根，向上结果。 31因为将有余民从耶路撒冷出来，有幸存者从锡安山出来。万军之耶和华必热切地成就这事。
32“至于亚述王，耶和华说，‘他必不能进这城或向这里射一箭，必不能手持盾牌兵临城下或修筑攻城的高台。 33他必原路返回，不得进入这城。这是耶和华说的。 34我必为自己和我仆人大卫的缘故而保护、拯救这城。’”
35当晚，耶和华的天使到亚述营中杀了十八万五千人。人们清早起来，发现到处都是尸体。 36亚述王西拿基立便拔营回国，住在尼尼微。 37一天，亚述王在庙里祭拜他的神明尼斯洛时，他的儿子亚得米勒和沙利色用刀杀了他，逃往亚拉腊。他儿子以撒哈顿继位。
