^aWhen king Hezekiah heard it, he ^btore his clothes and he ^ccovered himself with sackcloth and went into the house (temple) of the LORD. Is 37:1-13 2 Then he sent Eliakim who was in charge of his household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, ^acovered with sackcloth, to ^bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of distress and anxiety, of punishment and humiliation; for children have come to the time of their birth and there is no strength to rescue them. 4 ^aIt may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^bto taunt and defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. So offer a prayer for ^cthe remnant of His people that is left in Judah.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say this to your master: ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^aservants of the king of Assyria ^bhave reviled (blasphemed) Me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^ahe will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^bI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

8 So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^aLibnah a fortified city of Judah; for he had heard that the king had left ^bLachish. 9 When the king heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ¹Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to make war against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘^aDo not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying, “^bJerusalem shall not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Listen, you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared? 12 ^aDid the gods of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed rescue them—^bGozan and ^cHaran of Mesopotamia and Rezeph and ^dthe people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ^aWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad of northern Syria, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

14 ^aHezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house (temple) of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Is 37:14-20 15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, ^awho is enthroned above the cherubim of the ¹ark in the temple, ^bYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. 16 O LORD, ^abend down Your ear and hear; LORD, ^bopen Your eyes and see; hear the taunting words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^cto taunt and defy the living God. 17 It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have thrown their gods into the fire, ^afor they were not real gods but only the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they could destroy them and have destroyed them. 19 Now, O LORD our God, please, save us from his hand ^aso that all the kingdoms of the earth may know without any doubt that You alone, O ^bLORD, are God.”

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘^aI have heard your prayer to Me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ Is 37:21-38 21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:‘^aThe virgin daughter of ZionHas despised you and mocked you;The daughter of JerusalemHas ^bshaken her head behind you!

29 ‘Then this shall be ^athe sign of these things to you Hezekiah: this year you will eat what grows of itself, in the second year what springs up voluntarily, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ^aThe survivors who remain of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and a band of survivors ^afrom Mount Zion. ^bThe zeal of the LORD of hosts shall perform this.

32 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: “^aHe will not come to this city Jerusalem nor shoot an arrow there; nor will he come before it with a shield nor throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 ^aBy the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,”’ declares the LORD. 34 ‘^aFor I will protect this city to save it, for My own sake and ^bfor My servant David’s sake.’”

35 ^aThen it came to pass that night, that the ¹angel of the LORD went forth and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians; when the survivors got up early in the morning, behold, all 185,000 of them were dead. 36 So ^aSennacherib king of Assyria ¹left and returned home, and lived at ^2bNineveh. 37 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons ^aAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword; and they escaped to ^bthe land of Ararat. And ^cEsarhaddon his son became king in his place.