Isaiah 37 - New International Version (NIV)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes^(B) and put on sackcloth^(C) and went into the temple^(D) of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim^(E) the palace administrator, Shebna^(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{(G) 3} They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress^(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth^(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^(J) the living God,^(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^(L) Therefore pray^(M) for the remnant^(N) that still survives.”

⁵ When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid^(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed^(P) me. ⁷ Listen! When he hears a certain report,^(Q) I will make him want^(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down^(S) with the sword.’”

⁸ When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,^(T) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.^(U)

⁹ Now Sennacherib^(V) received a report^(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^[a](X) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive^(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’^{(Z) 11} Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?^{(AA) 12} Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors^(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,^(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden^(AD) who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?^(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,^(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”^(AG)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(AH)

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter^(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple^(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed^(AK) to the Lord: ¹⁶ “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned^(AL) between the cherubim,^(AM) you alone are God^(AN) over all the kingdoms^(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.^{(AP) 17} Give ear, Lord, and hear;^(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;^(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib^(AS) has sent to ridicule^(AT) the living God.^(AU)

¹⁸ “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.^{(AV) 19} They have thrown their gods into the fire^(AW) and destroyed them,^(AX) for they were not gods^(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.^{(AZ) 20} Now, Lord our God, deliver^(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth^(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.^[b](BC)”

Sennacherib’s Fall^(BD)

²¹ Then Isaiah son of Amoz^(BE) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter^(BF) Zion^(BG)
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head^(BH) as you flee.
²³ Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?^(BI)
Against whom have you raised your voice^(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?^(BK)
Against the Holy One^(BL) of Israel!
²⁴ By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots^(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights^(BN) of Lebanon.^(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.^(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
²⁵ I have dug wells in foreign lands^[c]
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up^(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.^(BR)’

²⁶ “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained^(BS) it.
In days of old I planned^(BT) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.^(BU)
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass^(BV) sprouting on the roof,^(BW)
scorched^[d] before it grows up.

²⁸ “But I know where you are
and when you come and go^(BX)
and how you rage^(BY) against me.
²⁹ Because you rage against me
and because your insolence^(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook^(CA) in your nose^(CB)
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.^(CC)

³⁰ “This will be the sign^(CD) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year^(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year^(CF) sow and reap,
plant vineyards^(CG) and eat their fruit.^(CH)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root^(CI) below and bear fruit^(CJ) above.
³² For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,^(CK)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.^(CL)
The zeal^(CM) of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

³³ “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city^(CN)
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp^(CO) against it.
³⁴ By the way that he came he will return;^(CP)
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
³⁵ “I will defend^(CQ) this city and save it,
for my sake^(CR) and for the sake of David^(CS) my servant!”

³⁶ Then the angel^(CT) of the Lord went out and put to death^(CU) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian^(CV) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷ So Sennacherib^(CW) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh^(CX) and stayed there.

³⁸ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple^(CY) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^(CZ) And Esarhaddon^(DA) his son succeeded him as king.^(DB)

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
2. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
3. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
4. Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields

Cross references

1. Isaiah 37:1 : 37:1-13pp — 2Ki 19:1-13
2. Isaiah 37:1 : S Ge 37:29; S 2Ch 34:19
3. Isaiah 37:1 : S Ge 37:34
4. Isaiah 37:1 : S ver 14; S 1Ki 8:33; Mt 21:13
5. Isaiah 37:2 : S 2Ki 18:18; S Isa 36:3
6. Isaiah 37:2 : S 2Ki 18:18
7. Isaiah 37:2 : ver 21; Isa 1:1; S 13:1; 38:1
8. Isaiah 37:3 : S Jdg 6:2; S Isa 5:30
9. Isaiah 37:3 : Isa 26:18; 66:9; Hos 13:13
10. Isaiah 37:4 : ver 23-24; S 2Ch 32:17
11. Isaiah 37:4 : S Jos 3:10
12. Isaiah 37:4 : Isa 36:13, 18-20
13. Isaiah 37:4 : S 1Sa 7:8
14. Isaiah 37:4 : S Isa 1:9; Am 7:2
15. Isaiah 37:6 : S Jos 1:9; S Isa 7:4
16. Isaiah 37:6 : S Nu 15:30
17. Isaiah 37:7 : ver 9
18. Isaiah 37:7 : 1Ch 5:26
19. Isaiah 37:7 : S Isa 31:8
20. Isaiah 37:8 : S Jos 10:3
21. Isaiah 37:8 : S Nu 33:20
22. Isaiah 37:9 : S 2Ch 32:1
23. Isaiah 37:9 : ver 7
24. Isaiah 37:9 : S Isa 20:3
25. Isaiah 37:10 : 2Ch 32:11, 15
26. Isaiah 37:10 : Isa 36:15
27. Isaiah 37:11 : Isa 36:18-20
28. Isaiah 37:12 : 2Ki 18:11
29. Isaiah 37:12 : Ge 11:31; 12:1-4; Ac 7:2
30. Isaiah 37:12 : Eze 27:23; Am 1:5
31. Isaiah 37:13 : Isa 10:9
32. Isaiah 37:13 : S 2Ki 17:24
33. Isaiah 37:13 : S Isa 36:20
34. Isaiah 37:14 : 37:14-20pp — 2Ki 19:14-19
35. Isaiah 37:14 : 2Ch 32:17
36. Isaiah 37:14 : ver 1, 38; S 1Ki 8:33
37. Isaiah 37:15 : S 2Ch 32:20
38. Isaiah 37:16 : S Ps 2:4
39. Isaiah 37:16 : S Ge 3:24
40. Isaiah 37:16 : Dt 10:17; S Ps 46:10; 86:10; 136:2-3
41. Isaiah 37:16 : Da 4:34
42. Isaiah 37:16 : S Ge 1:1; S Isa 11:12; 41:9; 43:6; Ac 4:24
43. Isaiah 37:17 : S 1Ki 8:29; S 2Ch 6:40
44. Isaiah 37:17 : Jer 25:29; Da 9:18
45. Isaiah 37:17 : S 2Ch 32:1
46. Isaiah 37:17 : S 2Ch 32:17
47. Isaiah 37:17 : S Jos 3:10
48. Isaiah 37:18 : S 2Ki 15:29; Na 2:11-12
49. Isaiah 37:19 : S Jos 7:15
50. Isaiah 37:19 : Isa 26:14; 36:20
51. Isaiah 37:19 : 2Ch 13:9; Isa 40:17; 41:24, 29; Jer 2:11; 5:7; 16:20; Gal 4:8
52. Isaiah 37:19 : S 2Ch 32:19; S Ps 135:15; Isa 40:18-20; 44:9-11
53. Isaiah 37:20 : S Ps 3:2, 7; S Pr 20:22
54. Isaiah 37:20 : S Jos 4:24
55. Isaiah 37:20 : S 1Sa 17:46; S Ps 46:10
56. Isaiah 37:21 : 37:21-38pp — 2Ki 19:20-37; 2Ch 32:20-21
57. Isaiah 37:21 : S ver 2
58. Isaiah 37:22 : S Isa 23:12
59. Isaiah 37:22 : S Isa 10:32
60. Isaiah 37:22 : S Job 16:4
61. Isaiah 37:23 : ver 4; S Nu 15:30; Isa 52:5; Eze 36:20, 23; Da 7:25
62. Isaiah 37:23 : S Job 15:25
63. Isaiah 37:23 : S Isa 2:11
64. Isaiah 37:23 : S Isa 1:4; S 12:6
65. Isaiah 37:24 : Isa 36:9
66. Isaiah 37:24 : Isa 14:13
67. Isaiah 37:24 : S 1Ki 7:2; S Isa 14:8; S 33:9
68. Isaiah 37:24 : 1Ki 5:8-10; Isa 41:19; 55:13; 60:13; Hos 14:8
69. Isaiah 37:25 : S Isa 19:6; 44:27
70. Isaiah 37:25 : S Dt 11:10; S Isa 10:14; Da 4:30
71. Isaiah 37:26 : Ac 2:23; 4:27-28; 1Pe 2:8
72. Isaiah 37:26 : Isa 10:6; S 25:1
73. Isaiah 37:26 : S Dt 13:16; S Isa 25:2
74. Isaiah 37:27 : S Isa 15:6
75. Isaiah 37:27 : Ps 129:6
76. Isaiah 37:28 : Ps 139:1-3
77. Isaiah 37:28 : Ps 2:1
78. Isaiah 37:29 : Isa 10:12
79. Isaiah 37:29 : S 2Ch 33:11
80. Isaiah 37:29 : S Job 40:24
81. Isaiah 37:29 : ver 34
82. Isaiah 37:30 : S Isa 20:3
83. Isaiah 37:30 : Isa 32:10
84. Isaiah 37:30 : S Isa 16:14
85. Isaiah 37:30 : S Lev 25:4
86. Isaiah 37:30 : Ps 107:37; Isa 30:23; 65:21; Jer 31:5
87. Isaiah 37:31 : Isa 11:10
88. Isaiah 37:31 : S Isa 27:6
89. Isaiah 37:32 : S Isa 11:11
90. Isaiah 37:32 : S Isa 1:9
91. Isaiah 37:32 : S Isa 9:7
92. Isaiah 37:33 : S Isa 32:18
93. Isaiah 37:33 : S 2Sa 20:15
94. Isaiah 37:34 : ver 29
95. Isaiah 37:35 : S Isa 31:5
96. Isaiah 37:35 : Isa 43:25; 48:9, 11; Eze 36:21-22
97. Isaiah 37:35 : S 1Ch 17:19
98. Isaiah 37:36 : S Ex 12:23
99. Isaiah 37:36 : S Ex 12:12
100. Isaiah 37:36 : S Isa 10:12
101. Isaiah 37:37 : S 2Ch 32:1
102. Isaiah 37:37 : S Ge 10:11; S Na 1:1
103. Isaiah 37:38 : S ver 14
104. Isaiah 37:38 : Ge 8:4; Jer 51:27
105. Isaiah 37:38 : S 2Ki 17:24
106. Isaiah 37:38 : S Isa 9:4; 10:26; S 14:25