1And it came to pass , when king Hezekiah heard it , that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth , and went into the house of Jehovah . 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and the elders of the priests , covered with sackcloth , unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3And they said unto him , Thus saith Hezekiah , This day is a day of trouble , and of rebuke , and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth , and there is not strength to bring forth . 4It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh , whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to defy the living God , and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard : wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left .
God's Response through Isaiah
5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah . 6And Isaiah said unto 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 . 7Behold , I will put a spirit in 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.
Sennacherib's Continued Threats
8So Rabshakeh returned , and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah ; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish . 9And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia , Behold , he is come out to fight against thee , he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah , saying, 10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah , saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee , saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold , thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly : and shalt thou be delivered ? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them , which my fathers have destroyed , Gozan , and Haran , and Rezeph , and the children of Eden that were in Telassar ? 13Where is the king of Hamath , and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim , of Hena , and Ivvah ?
God's Deliverance
14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers , and read it ; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah , and spread it before Jehovah . 15And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah , and said, O Jehovah , the God of Israel , that sittest above the cherubim , thou art the God , even thou alone , of all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made heaven and earth . 16Incline thine ear , O Jehovah , and hear ; open thine eyes , O Jehovah , and see ; and hear the words of Sennacherib , wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God . 17Of a truth, Jehovah , the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands , 18and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men ’s hands , wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them . 19Now therefore , O Jehovah our God , save thou us , I beseech thee , out of his hand , that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone . 20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah , saying, Thus saith Jehovah , the God of Israel , Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee . 21This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him : The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee . 22Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed ? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high ? even against the Holy One of Israel . 23By thy messengers thou hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains , to the innermost parts of Lebanon ; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof , and the choice fir-trees thereof ; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field . 24I have digged and drunk strange waters , and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt . 25Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago , and formed it of ancient times ? now have I brought it to pass , that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps . 26Therefore their inhabitants were of small power , they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field , and as the green herb , as the grass on the housetops , and as grain blasted before it is grown up . 27But I know thy sitting down , and thy going out , and thy coming in , and thy raging against me . 28Because of thy raging against me , and because thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips , and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 29And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself , and in the second year that which springeth of the same ; and in the third year sow ye, and reap , and plant vineyards , and eat the fruit thereof . 30And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward , and bear fruit upward . 31For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant , and out of mount Zion they that shall escape : the zeal of Jehovah shall perform this . 32Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city , nor shoot an arrow there , neither shall he come before it with shield , nor cast up a mound against it . 33By the way that he came , by the same shall he return , and he shall not come unto this city , saith Jehovah . 34For I will defend this city to save it , for mine own sake , and for my servant David ’s sake . 35And it came to pass that night , that the angel of Jehovah went forth , and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning , behold , these were all dead bodies . 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed , and went and returned , and dwelt at Nineveh . 37And it came to pass , as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword : and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead .