Isaiah 36:1-37:38

Matthew^{(i) 1} In .xiiij. yeare of Kyng Hezekiah, came Sennaherib kyng of the Assyrians downe, to laye sege vnto all the stronge cyties of Iuda. ² And the Kynge of the Assyrians sent Rabsakeh from Lachis towarde Ierusalem, agaynst Kynge Hesekiah, wyth a greuous Hoste, which set hym by the condite of the ouerpole, in the waye that goeth thorowe the fullers lande. ³ And so there came forth vnto hym Eliakim Helkiahs sonne the Presydent, Sobna the Scribe, & Ioah Asaphs sonne the Secretary. ⁴ And Rabsakeh sayde vnto them: Tell Hezekiah, that the greate kyng of Assyria sayeth thus vnto hym: What presumpcton is this, that thou trustest vnto? ⁵ Thou thinckest (peraduenture) that thou hast councell and power ynough to mayntene this warre: or els wherto trustest thou, that thou castest thy selfe of frome? ⁶ lo, thou puttest thy truste in a broken staffe of rede (I meane Egypte) whyche he that leaneth vpon, it goeth in to hys hande & shutteth hym thorowe. Euen so is Pharao the Kyng of Egypt, vnto all them that trust in him. ⁷ But yf thou woldest saye to me: we trust in the Lorde oure God: A goodlye God in dede: whose Hye places and aulters Hezekiah toke downe, & commaunded Iuda & Ierusalem, to worshyppe onely before the aulter. ⁸ Abyde the, thou haste made a condycyon with my lorde the kyng of the Assyrians, that he shuld geue the two thousand horses: art thou able to set men ther vp? ⁹ Seyng now that thou canst not resiste the power of the smallest prynce, that my Lorde hath, how darrest thou truste in the charettes and horse men of Egipt: ¹⁰ Moreouer, thinckest thou that I am come downe hether, to destroye thys lande without the Lordes wil? The Lord sayde vnto me, go downe in to the lande, that thou mayest destroye it. ¹¹ Then sayde Eliakim, Sobua & Ioah vnto Rabsakeh: Speake to vs thy seruauntes (we praye the) in the Sirians language, for we vnderstande it well: And speake not to vs in the Iewes tonge, leste the folcke heare, whych lyeth vpon the wall. ¹² Then answered Rabsakeh: Thyncke ye, that the kynge sent me to speake this only vnto you? Hath he not sent me to them also, that lye vpon the wall? that they be not compelled to eate their owne donge, and drincke theyr owne stale wyth you? ¹³ And Rabsakeh stode styf, and cryed with a loude voyce in the Iewes tunge: and sayd: Now take hede, how the greate kynge of the Assirians geueth you warning. ¹⁴ Thus sayeth the kynge: Let not Hezekiah disceyue you, for he shal not be able to delyuer you. ¹⁵ Moreouer let not Hezekiah conforte you in the Lorde, when he sayeth: The Lorde without doute shall defende vs, and shall not geue ouer this citie into the handes of The kynge of the Assyrians, beleue hym not. ¹⁶ But thus sayth the king of Assyria: opteyne my fauoure, enclyne to me: so maye euery man enioye his vineyardes and fygetrees, and drincke the water of hys cisterne: ¹⁷ vnto the tyme that I come my selfe, and bringe you into a lande that is like youre owne: wher in is wheate and wyne, whyche is both sowen wyth sede, and planted wyth vyneyardes. ¹⁸ Let not Hezekiah dysceyue you, when he sayeth vnto you: the Lorde shall delyuer vs? Myght the Goddes of the Gentiles kepe euery mans lande, from the power of the Kinge of the Assyrians? ¹⁹ Where is the God of Hemath and Arphad? Where is the God of Sepharnaim? And who was able to defende Samaria out of my hande? ²⁰ Or which of all the Goddes of the landes, hath delyuered their countre out of my power, so that the Lorde shuld delyuer Ierusalem fro my hande? ²¹ Vnto this Hezekiahs messaungers helde their tunges, & answered not one worde: for the Kyng had charged them, that they shulde geue hym none answere. ²² So came Eliakim Helkiahs sonne the President, Sobna the Scrybe, and Ioah Asaphs sonne the Secretarye vnto Hezekiah with rente clothes, and tolde him the wordes of Rabsakeh. ^{37 1} When Hezekiah hearde that, he rente his clothes, and put on a sack cloth, & went into the temple of the Lorde. ² But he sent Eliakim the Presydent, Sobna the Scrybe, wyth the eldest preastes clothed in sacke, vnto the Prophet Esay the sonne of Amoz, ³ & they sayde vnto hym: Thus sayeth Hezekiah: This is the daye of trouble, of plage and of wrath: lyke as when a chylde cometh to the byrth, but the woman hath no power to brynge it forth. ⁴ The Lorde thy God (no doute) hath well consydered the wordes of Rabsakeh, whom hys lorde the Kynge of the Assyrians hath sent, to defye & blaspheme the lyuynge God: with soch wordes as the Lord thy God hath heard right well. And therfore lyfte vp thy prayer for the remnaunt, that yet are left. ⁵ So the seruauntes of Kyng Hezekiah came to Esay. ⁶ And Esay gaue them this answere. Saye thus vnto youre lorde: thus sayeth the Lord: Be not afrayed of the wordes that thou hast hearde, wherwith the Kyng of the Assyrians seruauntes haue blasphemed me. ⁷ Beholde, I wyll cause a wynde go ouer hym, as sone as he heareth it, he shall go agayne into hys countre, there wyll I destroye hym with the swerde. ⁸ Now when Rabsakeh returned, he founde the kynge of Assyria layenge sege the Lobnah, for he had vnderstande, that he was departed from Lachis. ⁹ For there came a rumoure, that Tharhakah kynge of Ethiopia was come forth to warre agaynst hym. And when the Kynge of Assyria hearde that, he sent other messaungers to Kynge Hezekiah with this commaundement: ¹⁰ Saye thus to Hezekiah Kyng of Iuda: Let not thy God disceyue the, in whom thou hopest, & sayeste: Ierusalem shall not be geuen in to the handes of the Kyng of Assyria. ¹¹ For thou knowest well how the Kynges of Assyria haue handled all the landes that they haue subuerted, and hopest thou to escape? ¹² Where the people of the Gentyles (whom my progenytours conquered) delyuered at any tyme thorow their goddes? As namely, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the chyldren of Eden, which dwell at Thalassar. ¹³ Where is the Kynge of Hemah, & the Kynge of Arphad, & the Kyng of the cytye Sepharuaim, Ena and Aua? ¹⁴ Nowe when Hezekiah had receyued the lettre of the messaungers, and read it, he went vp into the house of the Lorde and opened the letter before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the Lorde on this maner: ¹⁶ O Lorde of Hostes, thou God of Israel, which dwellest vpon Cherubyn. Thou art the God, that only is God of all the Kyngdomes of the world, for thou only hast created heauen & earth. ¹⁷ Enclyne thyne eare Lord & consydre, open thyne eyes, O Lorde, & se, & pondre all the wordes of Sennaherib, whiche hath sent hys embage to blaspheme the lyuynge God. ¹⁸ It is true, O Lorde, that the Kynges of Assyria haue conquered all Kyngdomes and landes, ¹⁹ and cast their goddes in the fyre. Not wythstandynge those were no goddes but the worckes of mens handes, of wod or stone, therfore haue they destroyed them. ²⁰ Delyuer vs then, O Lorde oure God, from the handes of Sennaherib, that all Kyngdomes of the earth maye knowe, that thou only art the Lorde. ²¹ Then Esay the sonne of Amoz sent vnto Hezekiah, sayinge: Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel: Where as thou haste made thy prayer vnto me, as touchyng Sennaherib, ²² thys is the answere, that the Lorde hath geuen concernynge hym: Despised art thou, & mocked, O daughter of Syon, he hath shaken his head at the, O doughter of Ierusalem. ²³ But thou Sennaherib, whom hast thou defyed & blasphemed? And agaynst whom hast thou lyfted vp thy voyce, & exalted thy proude lokes? euen agaynst the holy one of Israel. ²⁴ Thou with thy seruauntes hast blasphemed the Lord, and thus holdest thou of thy selfe: I couer the hye mountaynes, and sydes of Libanus with my horsmen. And there wyll I cut downe the hye Cedre trees & the fayreste Fyrre trees. I will vp into the heyght of it, & into the chefest of his tymbre woddes. ²⁵ If there be no water, I wyl graue & drynke. And as for waters of defence, I shall drye them vp wyth the fete of myne Hoste. ²⁶ Yee (sayest thou) hast thou not hearde, what haue taken in hande, and brought to passe of olde tyme? That same wyll I do now also: waste, destroye, & bringe stronge cities vnto hearpes of stones. ²⁷ For theyr inhabitours shal be lyke lame men, brought in feare and confounded. They shalbe lyke the grasse and grene herbes in the felde, lyke the haye vpon house toppes, that withereth a fore it be growne vp. ²⁸ I knowe thy wayes, thy goinge forth and thy commyne home, yee & thy madnesse agaynst me. ²⁹ Therfore thy furiousnesse agaynst me, & thy pryde is come before me. I will put a ringe in thy nose, and a bridle byt in the chawes of the, & turne the aboute, euen the same waye thou comest. ³⁰ I will geue the also thys token (O Hezekiah) this yeare shalt thou eate that is kept in stoare, & the next yeare soch as groweth of him selfe, and in the thyrde yeare ye shall sowe & reape, yee ye shall plante vyneardes, and enioye the fruytes therof. ³¹ And soch of the house of Iuda as are escaped, shall come together, and the remnaunt shall take rote beneth, and bringe forth fruyte aboue. ³² For the escaped shall go out of Ierusalem, and the remaunte from the mount Syon. And this shall the gelousy of the Lorde of hostes bringe to passe. ³³ Therfore thus sayeth the Lorde, concernynge the kynge of the Assyrians: He shall not come in to the cytye, and shall shote no arowe in to it, there shall no shilde hurte it, nether shall they graue aboute it. ³⁴ The same waye that he came, shall he retourne, & not come at thys cytie, sayeth the Lorde. ³⁵ And I wyll kepe and saue the cytie (sayeth he) for myne owne, and for my seruaunte Dauyds sake. ³⁶ Thus the angel went forth, and slewe of the Assyrians hoste, an .clxxxv. thousande. And when men arose, vp earlye (at Ierusalem:) Beholde, all laye full of deed bodyes. ³⁷ So Sennaherib the kynge of the Assyrians brake vp, and dwelt at Niniue. ³⁸ Afterwarde it chaunsed, as he prayed in the temple of Nesrah hys god, that Adramalech and Sarazer hys owne sonnes slewe hym with the sweard, and fled in to the lande of Ararat. And Asarhadon hys sonne reygned after hym.