Isaiah 36:1-37:38 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of the reign of Ezekias, that Sennacherim, king of the Assyrians, came up against the strong cities of Judea, and took them.

LXX2012⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of the reign of Ezekias, [that] Sennacherim, king of the Assyrians, came up against the strong cities of Judea, and took them. ² And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces out of Laches to Jerusalem to king Ezekias with a large force: and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's field. ³ And there went forth to him Heliakim the steward, the [son] of Chelcias, and Somnas the scribe, and Joach the [son] of Asaph, the recorder. ⁴ And Rabsaces said to them, Say to Ezekias, Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians, Why are you secure? ⁵ Is war carried on with counsel and [mere] words of the lips? and now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? ⁶ Behold, you trust on this bruised staff of reed, on Egypt: [as soon] as a man leans upon it, it shall go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king of Egypt and all that trust in him. ⁷ But if you⌃ say, We trust in the Lord our God; ⁸ yet now make an agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you⌃ shall be able to set riders upon them. ⁹ And how can you⌃ [then] turn to the face of the satraps? They that trust on the Egyptians for horse and rider, are [our] servants. ¹⁰ And now, Have we come up against this land to fight against it without the Lord? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. ¹¹ Then Eliakim and Somnas and Joach said to him, Speak to your servants in the Syrian tongue; for we understand [it]: and speak not to us in the Jewish tongue: and therefore speak you in the ears of the men on the wall? ¹² And Rabsaces said to them, Has my lord sent me to your lord or to you, to speak these words? [has he] not [sent] me to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat dung, and drink [their] water together with you? ¹³ And Rabsaces stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear you⌃ the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians: ¹⁴ thus says the king, Let not Ezekias deceive you with words: he will not be able to deliver you. ¹⁵ And let not Ezekias say to you, That God will deliver you, and this city will not at all be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. ¹⁶ Listen not to Ezekias: thus says the king of the Assyrians, If you⌃ wish to be blessed, come out to me: and you⌃ shall eat every one [of] his vine and his fig-trees, and you⌃ shall drink water out of your own cisterns: ¹⁷ until I come and take you to a land, like your own land, a land of corn and wine, and bread, and vineyards. ¹⁸ Let not Ezekias deceive you, saying, God will deliver you. Have the gods of the nations delivered each one his own land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians? ¹⁹ Where is the god of Emath, and Arphath? and where is the god of Eppharuaim? have they been able to deliver Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰ Which is the god of all these nations, that has delivered his land out of my hand, that God should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? ²¹ And they were silent, and none answered him a word; because the king had commanded that none should answer. ²² And Heliakim the [son] of Chelcias, the steward, and Somnas the military scribe, and Joach the [son] of Asaph, the recorder, came in to Ezekias, having their garments tore, and they reported to him the words of Rabsaces. ³⁷ ¹ And it came to pass, when king Ezekias heard [it, that] he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went up to the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Heliakim the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and the elders of the priests clothed with sackcloth, to Esaias the son of Amos, the prophet. And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias, ³ To-day is a day of affliction, and reproach, and rebuke, and anger: for the pangs are come upon the travailing [woman], but she has not strength to bring forth. ⁴ May the Lord your God hear the words of Rabsaces, which the king of the Assyrians has sent, to reproach the living God, even to reproach with the words which the Lord your God has heard: therefore you shall pray to your Lord for these that are left. ⁵ So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias. ⁶ And Esaias said to them, Thus shall you⌃ say to your master, Thus says the Lord, Be not you afraid at the words which you have heard, wherewith the ambassadors of the king of the Assyrians have reproached me, ⁷ Behold, I [will] send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land. ⁸ So Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachis. ⁹ And Tharaca king of the Ethiopians went forth to attack him. And when he heard it, he turned aside, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying, ¹⁰ Thus shall you⌃ say to Ezekias king of Judea, Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. ¹¹ Hast you not heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done, how they have destroyed the whole earth? and shall you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them, both Gozan, and Charrhan, and Rapheth, which are in the land of Theemath? ¹³ Where are the kings of Emath? and where [is the king of] Arphath? and where [is the king] of the city of Eppharuaim, [and of] Anagugana? ¹⁴ And Ezekias received the letter from the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and opened it before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Ezekias prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sit upon the cherubs, you alone are the God of every kingdom of the world: you have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Incline your ear, O Lord, listen, O Lord; open your eyes, O Lord, look, O Lord: and behold the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁸ For of a truth, Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the whole world, and the countries thereof, ¹⁹ and have cast their idols into the fire: for, they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have cast them away. ²⁰ But now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hands, that every kingdom of the earth may know that you are God alone. ²¹ And Esaias the son of Amos was sent to Ezekias, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians. ²² This is the word which God has spoken concerning him; The virgin daughter of Sion has despised you, and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. ²³ Whom have you reproached and provoked? and against whom have you lifted up your voice? and have you not lifted up your eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel? ²⁴ For you have reproached the Lord by messengers; for you have said, With the multitude of chariots have I ascended to the height of mountains, and to the sides of Libanus; and I have cropped the height of his cedars and the beauty of his cypresses; and I entered into the height of the forest region: ²⁵ and I have made a bridge, and dried up the waters, and every pool of water. ²⁶ Hast you not heard of these things which I did of old? I appointed [them] from ancient times; but now have I manifested [my purpose] of desolating nations in [their] strong holds, and them that dwell in strong cities. ²⁷ I weakened [their] hands, and they withered; and they became as dry grass on the housetops, and as grass. ²⁸ But now I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in. ²⁹ And your wrath wherewith you have been enraged, and your rancour has come up to me; therefore I will put a hook in your nose, and a bit in your lips, and will turn you back by the way by which you came. ³⁰ And this shall be a sign to you, Eat this year what you have sown; and the second year that which is left: and the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. ³¹ And they that are left in Judea shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward: ³² for out of Jerusalem there shall be a remnant, and the saved ones out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. ³³ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, nor cast a weapon against it, nor bring a shield against it, nor make a rampart round it. ³⁴ But by the way by which he came, by it shall he return, and shall not enter into this city: thus says the Lord. ³⁵ I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. ³⁶ And the angel of the Lord went forth, and killed out of the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they arose in the morning and found all [these] bodies dead. ³⁷ And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians turned and departed, and lived in Nineve. ³⁸ And while he was worshipping Nasarach his country's god in the house, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with swords; and they escaped into Armenia: and Asordan his son reigned in his stead.