2 Chronicles 32:1-33, Isaiah 36:1-37:38 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

2 Chronicles 32:1-33

Sennacherib Invades Judah

After these ¹acts of faithfulness ^aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, and ²thought to break into them for himself. 2 Then Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he had set his face to make war on Jerusalem, 3 and he took counsel with his commanders and his warriors to stop up the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. 4 So many people gathered ^aand stopped up all the springs and ^bthe stream which flowed in the midst of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” 5 And he strengthened himself and ^arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and ¹erected towers on it, and built ^banother outside wall and strengthened the ²^cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. 6 He also put military commanders over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and ^aspoke to their hearts, saying, 7 “^aBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the multitude that is with him; ^bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him. 8 With him is only ^aan arm of flesh, but ^bwith us is Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were sustained by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Reproaches Yahweh

9 After this ^aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ¹besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, 10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? 11 Is not Hezekiah inciting you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “Yahweh our God will deliver us from the ¹hand of the king of Assyria”? 12 ^aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ¹Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall offer offerings up in smoke”? 13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? 14 ^aWho was there among all the gods of these nations which my fathers devoted to destruction, who could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? 15 So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or incite you like this, and do not believe him, for ^ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’”
16 His servants spoke further against Yahweh God and against His servant Hezekiah. 17 He also wrote letters to ¹reproach Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^aAs the gods of the nations of the lands ²have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 18 ^aAnd they called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to instill fear and terrify them, so that they might capture the city. 19 And they spoke ¹of the God of Jerusalem as of ^athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Yahweh Wipes Out the Men of Assyria

20 But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 21 And Yahweh sent an angel who wiped out every mighty man of valor, ruler, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ¹in shame to his own land. And he entered the house of his god, and some of ²his own children caused him to fall there by the sword. 22 So Yahweh ^asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and He ¹guided them on every side. 23 And ^amany were bringing presents to Yahweh at Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that ^bhe was lifted up in the sight of all nations thereafter.
24 ^aIn those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death; and he prayed to Yahweh, and ¹Yahweh spoke to him and gave him a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit ¹he received, ^abecause his heart was ²proud; ^btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 However, ^aHezekiah ¹humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
27 Now Hezekiah had abundant riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of desirable articles, 28 storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine, and oil, stalls for all kinds of cattle, and ¹sheepfolds for the flocks. 29 He also made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for ^aGod had given him exceedingly abundant ¹wealth. 30 And it was Hezekiah who ^astopped the upper outlet of the waters of ^bGihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. 31 Even in the matter of ^athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of ^bthe miraculous sign that had happened in the land, God left him alone only ^cto test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of lovingkindness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 33 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ¹upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^ahonored him at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Isaiah 36:1-37:38

Sennacherib Invades Judah

^aNow it happened in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that ^bSennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 2 And the ^aking of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force. And he stood by the ^bconduit of the upper pool on the highway of the ¹fuller’s field. 3 Then ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^bShebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.
4 Then ^aRabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this trust that you have? 5 I say, ‘Your counsel and might for the war are only ¹empty words.’ Now in whom do you trust, that ^ayou have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you trust in the ^astaff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his ¹hand and pierce it. ^bSo is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not He ^awhose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? 8 So now, ¹come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them. 9 How then can you ¹turn away one ²official of the least of my master’s servants and ^atrust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 So now, have I come up ¹without the approval of Yahweh against this land to make it a ruin? ^aYahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and make it a ruin.’”’”
11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in ^aAramaic, for we ¹understand it; and do not speak with us in ²^bJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
13 Then Rabshakeh stood and ^acried with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah ^adeceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 and do not let Hezekiah make you ^atrust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘¹Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his ^avine and each of his fig tree, and drink each of the ^bwaters of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, “^aYahweh will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of ^aHamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of ^aSepharvaim? And when have they ^bdelivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the ^agods of these lands ¹have delivered their land from my hand, that ^bYahweh would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”
21 But they were silent and ^aanswered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^bShebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

Now it happened that ^awhen King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. 2 Then he sent ^aEliakim, who was over the household with ^bShebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to ^cIsaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a ^aday of distress, reproof, and rejection; for ^bchildren have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ¹^areproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for ^bthe 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 Yahweh, “^aDo not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will ^ahear a report and ^breturn to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^aLibnah, for he had heard that ¹the king had set out from ^bLachish. 9 Then he ^aheard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ¹^bEthiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” So he heard it and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ¹Judah, ‘^aDo not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 ^aBehold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, devoting them to destruction. So will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of ¹those nations, which my fathers have brought to ruin, deliver them, even ^aGozan and ^bHaran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple

14 Then Hezekiah took the ¹letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of Yahweh and ²spread it out before Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh saying, 16 “O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ^awho is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the ^bGod, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. ^cYou have made heaven and earth. 17 ^aIncline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; open Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and ^blisten to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to ¹^creproach the living God. 18 Truly, O Yahweh, the ^akings of Assyria have laid waste to all the countries and their lands 19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the ^awork of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have ^bdestroyed them. 20 But now, O Yahweh our God, ^asave us from his hand that ^ball the kingdoms of the earth may know that ¹You are Yahweh, You alone.”

Yahweh’s Answer Through Isaiah

21 Then ^aIsaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken against him:

“She has despised you and mocked you,

The ^avirgin ^bdaughter of Zion;

She has ^cshaken her head behind you,

The daughter of Jerusalem!

Whom have you ¹^areproached and blasphemed?

And against whom have you heightened your voice

And ²haughtily ^blifted up your eyes?

Against the ^cHoly One of Israel!

Through your servants you have ¹reproached the Lord,

And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,

To the remotest parts of ^aLebanon;

And I cut down its tall ^bcedars and its choice cypresses.

And I will go to its ²highest peak, its thickest ^cforest.

I dug wells and drank waters,

And ^awith the sole of my feet I dried up

All the rivers of ¹Egypt.’

^aHave you not heard?

Long ago I did it;

From days of old I ^bformed it.

Now ^cI have brought it to pass,

That ^dyou should devastate fortified cities into ^eruinous heaps.

So their inhabitants were short of power;

They were dismayed and put to shame;

They were as the ^aplant of the field and as the green herb,

As ^bgrass on the rooftops ¹is scorched before it rises.

But I ^aknow your sitting down

And your going out and your coming in

And your raging against Me.

Because of your raging against Me

And because your ¹^apresumptuousness has come up to My ears,

Therefore I will put My ^bhook in your nose

And My ^cbridle in your lips,

And I will turn you back ^dby the way which you came.

30 “Then this shall be the sign for you: ¹you will eat this year what ^agrows of its own accord, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the ^asurviving ^bremnant of the house of Judah will again ^ctake root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a ^aremnant and out of Mount Zion ¹survivors. The ^bzeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.”’
33 “Therefore, thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a ^asiege ramp against it. 34 ^aBy the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares Yahweh. 35 ‘Indeed I will ^adefend this city to save it ^bfor My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

The Defeat and Death of Sennacherib

36 Then the ^aangel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And ¹the men arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and ¹returned home and lived at ^aNineveh. 38 Now it happened that as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of ^aArarat. And ^bEsarhaddon his son became king in his place.