Self-interpreting Bible

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2 Kings 19

1Hezekiah in deep affliction sendeth to desire Isaiah's prayers. 6Isaiah returneth an answer of comfort. 8Sennacherib, being called away to oppose the king of Ethiopia, sendeth a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah. 14Hezekiah's prayer upon the receipt of it. 20Isaiah's prophecy concerning the pride and overthrow of Sennacherib, and the prosperity of Zion. 35An angel destroyeth the Assyrian army: Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons.

1 AND ait came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and bcovered himself with sackcloth, and cwent into the house of the LORD.

2 And he sent dEliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to eIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is fa day of trouble, and of rebuke, and 1blasphemy: for the gchildren are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4 It hmay be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent ito reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore jlift up thy prayer for the remnant that are 2left.

5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

    6 ¶And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, kBe not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which lthe servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

    7 Behold, I will send a mblast upon him, and he nshall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

    8 ¶So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against oLibnah: for he had heard that he was departed from pLachish.

    9 And when qhe heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

    10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, rLet not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

    11 Behold, sthou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?

    12 Have tthe gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as uGozan, and vHaran, and Rezeph, and the children of wEden which were in Thelasar?

    13 Where is the king of xHamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

    14 ¶And Hezekiah received the yletter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and zspread it before the LORD.

    15 And Hezekiah aprayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which bdwellest between the cherubims, thou art cthe God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

    16 LORD, dbow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him eto reproach the living God.

    17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have fdestroyed the nations and their lands,

    18 And have 3cast their gods into the fire: for they were gno gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

    19 Now therefore, O hLORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, ithat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

    20 ¶Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus jsaith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria kI have heard.

    21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; lThe virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

    22 Whom mhast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against nthe Holy One of Israel.

    23 4By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, oWith the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the 5tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of 6his Carmel.

    24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of 7besieged places.

    • 7: Or, fenced.

    25 Hast thou not heard 8long ago how pI have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

    • 8: Or, how I have made it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Should I now bring it to be laid waste, and fenced cities to be ruinous heaps?
    • p: Is. 10:5 , Is. 10:6 , Je. 51:20 - 23

    26 Therefore their inhabitants were 9of 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 corn blasted before it be grown up.

    27 But I know thy 10abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

    28 Because qthy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore rI will 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.

    29 And this shall be a ssign unto thee, Ye shall eat tthis year such things as grow of themselves, 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 fruits thereof.

    30 And the 11remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

    31 For uout of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and 12they that escape out of mount Zion: vthe zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

    32 Therefore thus saith 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 wcast a *bank against it.

    33 By xthe way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

    34 For yI will defend this city, to save it, zfor mine own sake, and afor my servant David's sake.

    35 ¶And bit came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote cin the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

    36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and dreturned, and dwelt at eNineveh.

    37 And it came to pass, fas he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that gAdrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of 13Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his *stead.