ao:eng_webu
Isaiah 37
1When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.
2He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the , covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to give birth.
4It may be the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
5So the servants of Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.
9He heard news concerning Tirhakah of Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10“Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah of Judah, saying, ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust you, saying, “Jerusalem won’t be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
11Behold, you have heard what the of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?
12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
13Where is the of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD.
15Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying,
16“LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17Turn your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.
18Truly, LORD, the of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land,
19and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
20Now therefore, LORD our God, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, even you only.”
21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel says, ‘Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib of Assyria,
22this is which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
23Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
24By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the , to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.
25I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
26“‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.
27Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
28But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
29Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
30“‘This shall be the sign to you: You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from it; and in the third year sow and reap and plant , and eat their fruit.
31The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and survivors will escape from Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will perform this.’
33“Therefore the LORD says concerning the of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
34He will return the way that he came, and he won’t come to this city,’ says the LORD.
35‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
36Then the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
37So Sennacherib of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there.
38As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
Slow reading
Read Isaiah 37 three times
Guided passes through short verse groups: read it whole, watch the words, then pray it back. Phrases to stop on along the way, with deeper explanation held back until you have read the verses yourself.
Ask about this chapter
Have a question about Isaiah 37?
Ask anything about this chapter. Every answer names the verses it rests on and links straight to them, highlighted in the reader.
Study together
Questions on Isaiah 37
Every comment is tied to a place in the text: a verse, a span of verses, or one section of the study. Ask what you do not understand, and answer others from Scripture.
Sign in to ask a question or answer one. Reading always stays open to everyone.
Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.