2 Kings 19 - New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Chapter 19

Hezekiah and Isaiah. 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the master of the palace, Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to tell the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, 3 “Thus says Hezekiah:

A day of distress and rebuke,
a day of disgrace is this day!
Children are due to come forth,
but the strength to give birth is lacking.[a]

4 Perhaps the Lord, your God, will hear all the words of the commander, whom his lord, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke him for the words which the Lord, your God, has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that is here.” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah, 6 he said to them, “Tell this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be frightened by the words you have heard, by which the deputies of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.(A) 7 I am putting in him such a spirit that when he hears a report he will return to his land. I will make him fall by the sword in his land.”

8 When the commander, on his return, heard that the king of Assyria had withdrawn from Lachish, he found him besieging Libnah.

Sennacherib, Hezekiah, and Isaiah. 9 The king of Assyria heard a report: “Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, has come out to fight against you.” Again he sent messengers to Hezekiah to say: 10 “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ 11 You, certainly, have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands: they put them under the ban! And are you to be rescued? 12 (B)Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, or the kings of the cities Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spreading it out before the Lord, 15 Hezekiah prayed in the Lord’s presence: “Lord, God of Israel, enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. It is you who made the heavens and the earth.(C) 16 Incline your ear, Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, Lord, and see! Hear the words Sennacherib has sent to taunt the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands. 18 They gave their gods to the fire—they were not gods at all, but the work of human hands—wood and stone, they destroyed them. 19 Therefore, Lord, our God, save us from this man’s power, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”(D)

20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened! 21 [b]This is the word the Lord has spoken concerning him:

She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion!
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem.
22 Whom have you insulted and blasphemed,
at whom have you raised your voice
And lifted up your eyes on high?
At the Holy One of Israel!
23 Through the mouths of your messengers
you insulted the Lord when you said,
‘With my many chariots I went up
to the tops of the peaks,
to the recesses of Lebanon,
To cut down its lofty cedars,
its choice cypresses;
I reached to the farthest shelter,
the forest ranges.
24 I myself dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
Drying up all the rivers of Egypt
beneath the soles of my feet.’

25 “Have you not heard?
A long time ago I prepared it,
from days of old I planned it.
Now I have brought it about:
You are here to reduce
fortified cities to heaps of ruins,
26 Their people powerless,
dismayed and distraught.
They are plants of the field,
green growth,
thatch on the rooftops,
Grain scorched by the east wind.
27 I know when you stand or sit,
when you come or go(E)
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me,
and your smugness has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
And make you leave by the way you came.

29 “This shall be a sign for you:
This year you shall eat the aftergrowth,
next year, what grows of itself;
But in the third year, sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit!
30 The remaining survivors of the house of Judah
shall again strike root below
and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

32 “Therefore, thus says the Lord about the king:

He shall not come as far as this city,
nor shoot there an arrow,
nor confront it with a shield,
Nor cast up a siege-work against it.
33 By the way he came he shall leave,
never coming as far as this city,
oracle of the Lord.
34 I will shield and save this city
for my own sake and the sake of David my servant.”(F)

35 That night the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Early the next morning, there they were, dead, all those corpses!(G) 36 So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, departed, returned home, and stayed in Nineveh.

37 When he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 19:3 See note on Is 37:3.
  2. 19:21–31 Verses 21–28 are addressed to Sennacherib, vv. 29–31 to Judah.

Cross references

  1. 19:6 : Is 10:5–14.
  2. 19:12–13 : 2 Kgs 17:6, 24; 18:34.
  3. 19:15 : Ex 25:17–22; 1 Kgs 6:23–28; 8:6–7.
  4. 19:19 : 1 Kgs 18:36.
  5. 19:27 : Ps 139:2–3.
  6. 19:34 : 2 Sm 7:12.
  7. 19:35 : 1 Mc 7:41; 2 Mc 8:19.

You Might Also Like:

2 Kings 19 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

19 And it cometh to pass, at king Hezekiah's hearing, that he rendeth his garments, and covereth himself with sackcloth, and entereth the house of Jehovah, 2 and sendeth Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, unto I...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

19 And when king Hezekiah had heard these things, he rent his clothes, and was covered with a sackcloth; and he entered into the house of the Lord. (And when King Hezekiah had heard these things, he tore his clothes, and was covered with a sackcloth; and he went to the House of the Lord.) 2 And he s...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - World English Bible (WEB)

19 When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s house. 2 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 They said to him, “He...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - The Voice (VOICE)

19 King Hezekiah tore his clothes after he heard what had been said. He then covered himself with sackcloth and entered the Eternal’s temple. 2 Hezekiah dispatched the palace administrator, Eliakim, along with Shebna the lawyer and the priest-elders, to go meet with the prophet Isaiah (Amoz’s son)....
Read More

2 Kings 19 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Hezekiah’s Cry of Desperation19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of Adonai. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe and the senior kohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet son o...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah19 When King Hezeki′ah heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eli′akim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah ...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah19 When King Hezeki′ah heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eli′akim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah ...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah s...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.(A)2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah ...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Hezekiah Seeks the Lord’s Help19 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New Life Version (NLV)

Hezekiah Talks to Isaiah19 When King Hezekiah heard about it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with cloth made from hair. Then he went into the house of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim who was the head of the house, Shebna the writer, and the head religious leaders, to the man of God Isaiah the ...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Isaiah Assures Deliverance(A)19 And (B)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with (C)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 sackclo...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Jerusalem’s deliverance foretold19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 The...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New International Version (NIV)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(B) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(C) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(D) all wearing sackcloth,(E) to the prophet Isaiah(F) so...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Isaiah Prophesies That Jerusalem Will Be Saved19 When King Hezekiah heard what the field commander had said, he tore his clothes. He put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Then he went into the Lord’s temple. 2 Hezekiah sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, to Isaiah the p...
Read More

2 Kings 19 - New English Translation (NET)

19 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,[a] clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘...
Read More