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Concerning
Sennacherib and Hezekiah
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Isaiah Assures
Deliverance |
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Isaiah 37:1-7
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(1) And so it was, when King Hezekiah
heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and
went into the house of the LORD. (2)
Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and
the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz. (3) And they said to
him, "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and
blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength
to bring them forth. (4) It may be that the LORD
your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king
of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the
words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore
lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
(5) So the servants of King Hezekiah came to
Isaiah. (6) And Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall
say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: "Do not
be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of
the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. (7)
Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and
return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his
own land."'" |
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2 Kings 19:1-7
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(1) And so it was, when King Hezekiah
heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and
went into the house of the LORD. (2)
Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and
the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz. (3) And they said to him,
"Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and
blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength
to bring them forth. (4) It may be that the LORD
your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the
king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the
words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore
lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
(5) So the servants of King Hezekiah came to
Isaiah. (6) And Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall
say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: "Do not
be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of
the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. (7)
Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and
return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his
own land."'" |
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Sennacherib's Threat and Hezekiah's Prayer |
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Isaiah 37:8-20
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2 Kings 19:8-19 |
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(8) Then the Rabshakeh returned, and found the
king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had
departed from Lachish. (9) And the king heard concerning
Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He has come out to make war with you." So
when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, (10)
"Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: 'Do not let
your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be
given into the hand of the king of Assyria." (11)
Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by
utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? (12)
Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have
destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were
in Telassar? (13) Where is the king of Hamath,
the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and
Ivah?'"
(14) And Hezekiah received the letter
from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to
the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
(15) Then Hezekiah prayed to the LORD,
saying: (16) "O LORD
of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You
are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made
heaven and earth. (17) Incline Your ear, O LORD,
and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and
hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the
living God. (18) Truly, LORD,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
(19) and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were
not gods, but the work of men's hands — wood and stone. Therefore they
destroyed them. (20) Now therefore, O LORD
our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that You are the LORD, You alone." |
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(8) Then the Rabshakeh returned and
found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he
had departed from Lachish. (9) And the king
heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Look, he has come out to
make war with you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
(10) "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah,
saying: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying,
"Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
(11) Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have
done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be
delivered? (12) Have the gods of the nations
delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and
Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? (13)
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the
city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?'"
(14) And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the
messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD,
and spread it before the LORD. (15)
Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said:
"O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells
between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of
the earth. You have made heaven and earth. (16)
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your
eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of
Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
(17) Truly, LORD, the kings of
Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, (18)
and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but
the work of men's hands — wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed
them. (19) Now therefore, O LORD
our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that You are the LORD God, You
alone." |
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The Word of the LORD
Concerning Sennacherib |
| Isaiah 37:21-36 |
2 Kings 19:20-34 |
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(21) Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to
Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of
Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of
Assyria, (22) this is the word which the LORD
has spoken concerning him:
"The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughed you to
scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back!
(23) "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes on
high? Against the Holy One of Israel. (24) By your
servants you have reproached the Lord, and said, 'By the multitude of my
chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of
Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; I
will enter its farthest height, to its fruitful forest. (25)
I have dug and drunk water, and with the soles of my feet I have dried
up all the brooks of defense.'
(26) "Did you not hear long ago how I made it,
from ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, that
you should be for crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
(27) Therefore their inhabitants had little power; they were
dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field and the
green herb, as the grass on the housetops and grain blighted before it
is grown.
(28) "But I know your dwelling place, your
going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me. (29)
Because your rage against Me and your tumult have come up to My ears,
therefore I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips,
and I will turn you back by the way which you came."'
(30) "This shall be a sign to you:
You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, and the second year
what springs from the same; also in the third year sow and reap, plant
vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 31 And the remnant who have
escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear
fruit upward. (32) For out of Jerusalem shall go
a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD
of hosts will do this.
(33) "Therefore thus says the LORD
concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it.
(34) By the way that he came, by the same shall he return;
and he shall not come into this city,' says the LORD.
(35) 'For I will defend this city, to save it for My own
sake and for My servant David's sake.'" |
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(20) Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to
Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of
Israel: 'Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of
Assyria, I have heard.' (21) This is the word which
the LORD has spoken concerning him:
'The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised
you, laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her
head behind your back!
(22) 'Whom have you reproached and
blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up
your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. (23)
By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, and said: "By the
multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the
mountains, to the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars
and its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its
borders, to its fruitful forest. (24) I have
dug and drunk strange water, and with the soles of my feet I have
dried up all the brooks of defense."
(25) 'Did you not hear long ago how I
made it, from ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought
it to pass, that you should be for crushing fortified cities into
heaps of ruins. (26) Therefore their inhabitants had
little power; they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the
grass of the field and the green herb, as the grass on the housetops
and grain blighted before it is grown.
(27) 'But I know your dwelling place, your
going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me. (28)
Because your rage against Me and your tumult have come up to My ears,
therefore I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips,
and I will turn you back by the way which you came.
(29) 'This shall be a sign to you:
You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, and in the second
year what springs from the same; also in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. (30) And the
remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root
downward, and bear fruit upward. (31) For out of
Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.'
(32) "Therefore thus says the LORD
concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it.
(33) By the way that he came, by the same shall he return;
and he shall not come into this city,' says the LORD.
(34) 'For I will defend this city, to save it for My own
sake and for My servant David's sake.'" |
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Sennacherib's Defeat and Death |
| Isaiah 37:36-38 |
2 Kings 19:35-37 |
2 Chronicles 32:21-23 |
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(36) Then the angel of the LORD
went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and
eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning,
there were the corpses — all dead. (37) So Sennacherib
king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at
Nineveh. (38) Now it came to pass, as he was
worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech
and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the
land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. |
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(35) And it came to pass on a certain night
that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed
in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and
when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses — all
dead. (36) So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed
and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. (37)
Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his
god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the
sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his
son reigned in his place |
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(21) Then the LORD
sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and
captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced
to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some
of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.
(22) Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of
Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every
side. (23) And many brought gifts to the LORD
at Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was
exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter. |
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Hezekiah's Life Extended |
| Isaiah 38:1-8 |
2 Kings 20:1-11 |
2 Chronicles 32:24-26 |
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(1) In those days Hezekiah was sick and near
death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to
him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in
order, for you shall die and not live.'"
(2) Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the
wall, and prayed to the LORD, (3)
and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I
have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done
what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
(4) And the word of the LORD
came to Isaiah, saying, (5) "Go and tell Hezekiah,
'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father:
"I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to
your days fifteen years. (6) I will deliver you and this
city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this
city."' (7) And this is the sign to you from the LORD,
that the LORD will do this thing which He has
spoken: (8) Behold, I will bring the shadow on
the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz,
ten degrees backward." So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by
which it had gone down.
(9) This is the writing of Hezekiah king of
Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
(10) I said, "In the prime of my life I shall go to
the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my years."
(11) I said, "I shall not see YAH,
The LORD in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
(12) My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a
weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You
make an end of me. (13) I have considered until morning —
like a lion, so He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an
end of me. (14) Like a crane or a swallow, so I
chattered; I mourned like a dove; my eyes fail from looking upward. O LORD,
I am oppressed; undertake for me!
(15) "What shall I say? He has both spoken to
me, and He Himself has done it. I shall walk carefully all my years in
the bitterness of my soul. (16) O Lord, by these things men
live; and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so You will
restore me and make me live. (17) Indeed it was for my
own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered
my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind
Your back. (18) For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot
praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
(19) The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this
day; the father shall make known Your truth to the children.
(20) "The LORD was ready
to save me; therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
all the days of our life, in the house of the LORD." |
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(1) In those days Hezekiah was sick and near
death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said
to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in
order, for you shall die, and not live.'"
(2) Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to
the LORD, saying, (3) "Remember now,
O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in
truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your
sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
(4) And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle
court, that the word of the LORD came to him,
saying, (5) "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of
My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David
your father:" I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears;
surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house
of the LORD. (6) And I will
add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from
the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My
own sake, and for the sake of My servant David."'" |
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(24) In those days Hezekiah was sick and near
death, and he prayed to the LORD; and He spoke
to him and gave him a sign. (25) But Hezekiah did not
repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up;
therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.
(26) Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,
he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD
did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
NKJV
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(21) Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a lump
of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover." |
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(7) Then Isaiah said, "Take a lump of
figs." So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. |
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(22) And Hezekiah had said, "What is the sign
that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?" |
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(8) And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign
that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go
up to the house of the LORD the third day?"
(9) Then Isaiah said, "This is the sign to
you from the LORD, that the LORD
will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten
degrees or go backward ten degrees?"
(10) And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy
thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go
backward ten degrees."
(11) So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD,
and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone
down on the sundial of Ahaz. |
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The Babylonian Envoys |
| Isaiah 39:1-8 |
2 Kings 20:12-19 |
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(1) At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of
Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he
heard that he had been sick and had recovered. (2) And
Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his
treasures — the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and
all his armory — all that was found among his treasures. There was
nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show
them.
(3) Then Isaiah the prophet went to King
Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did
they come to you?"
So Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far country, from Babylon."
(4) And he said, "What have they seen in
your house?"
So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is
nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
(5) Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear
the word of the LORD of hosts: (6)
'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what
your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to
Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD.
(7) 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend
from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace
of the king of Babylon.'"
(8) So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word
of the LORD which you have spoken is good!"
For he said, "At least there will be peace and truth in my days." |
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(12) At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of
Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for
he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. (13) And Hezekiah
was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures
— the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his
armory — all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in
his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
(14) Then Isaiah the prophet went to King
Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did
they come to you?"
So Hezekiah said, "They came from a far country, from Babylon."
(15) And he said, "What have they seen in
your house?"
So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there
is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
(16) Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the
word of the LORD: (17) 'Behold, the
days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers
have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing
shall be left,' says the LORD. (18)
'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you,
whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon.'"
(19) So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The
word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!"
For he said, "Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?" |
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Bibliography
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