1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.” 5When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’ ” 8When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. 9Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,⚓ was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 17“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall
20Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: “ ‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 22Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests. 24I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25“ ‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. 26Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
27“ ‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. 28Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’ 29“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 31For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 32“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “ ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. 33By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,
34I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ” 35That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 37One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
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Vajntxwv Hexekiyas Mus Cuag Yaxayas
(Yaxayas 37.1-7)
1Thaum Vajntxwv Hexekiyas hnov tej lus ntawd, nws nyuaj siab heev, nws dua rhe nws lub tsho thiab muab ntaubtsaj los hnav thiab mus rau hauv tus TSWV lub Tuamtsev. 2Nws txib Eliyakees uas yog tus saib lub loog, Senpenas uas yog tus teev ntawv thiab cov povthawj ob peb leeg kom mus cuag tus cev Vajtswv lus Yaxayas uas yog Amauxes tus tub. Lawv puavleej hnav ntaubtsaj huv tibsi. 3Vajntxwv kom lawv mus hais rau Yaxayas hais tias, “Hnub no yog hnub uas peb raug kev txomnyem; peb tabtom raug txim thiab poob ntsejmuag. Peb zoo ib yam li tus pojniam uas nws tsis muaj zog yug nws tus menyuam. 4Tus vajntxwv uas kav lub tebchaws Axilias txib nws ib tug thawj tubrog tuaj thuam Vajtswv tus uas muaj sia nyob. Thov tus TSWV uas yog koj tus Vajtswv lees paub thiab rau txim rau cov neeg uas tuaj thuam nws ntawd. Yog li ntawd, koj cia li thov Vajtswv pab peb cov uas tseem seem nyob no.” 5Thaum Yaxayas hnov tej lus uas Vajntxwv Hexekiyas hais no lawm, 6nws thiaj kom lawv rov mus hais rau vajntxwv hais tias, “Tus TSWV kom koj tsis txhob nyuaj siab rau tus vajntxwv uas kav lub tebchaws Axilias tej lus thuam uas hais tais, tus TSWV pab tsis tau koj. 7Tus TSWV yuav ua kom tus vajntxwv uas kav lub tebchaws Axilias hnov lus foob lus cua, ces nws yuav rov mus rau pem nws lub tebchaws, thiab tus TSWV yuav ua kom luag muab nws tua rau pem nws lub tebchaws.”
Cov Axilias Rov Tuaj Tua Cov Yudas
(Yaxayas 37.8-20)
8Cov Axilias tus thawj tubrog paub hais tias, vajntxwv tawm hauv lub nroog Lakhis mus tua lub nroog Linas uas nyob tsis deb ntawd; nws txawm mus nrog vajntxwv sablaj. 9Cov Axilias tus vajntxwv hnov hais tias, Vajntxwv Tihakas uas kav lub tebchaws Sudas coj ib pab tubrog Iziv tuaj tua nws lawm, nws txawm txib neeg mus hais rau Vajntxwv Hexekiyas uas kav lub tebchaws Yudas 10hais tias, “Tsis txhob cia tus vajtswv uas koj cia siab rau ntxias tau koj hais tias, koj yuav tsis poob rau kuv txhais tes li. 11Nyaj koj hnov tej uas cov Axilias tus vajntxwv tau ua rau tej tebchaws uas nws xav muab ua kom puastsuaj ntawd lawm. Koj xav hais tias koj yuav dim no los? 12Kuv cov yawgkoob twb ua rau lub nroog Nkauxas, Halas, Lexes puastsuaj tas thiab tua cov neeg Npethedees uas nyob hauv lub nroog Telaxas tuag tas, thiab yeej tsis muaj ib tug vajtswv nyob qhov twg los pab cov neeg ntawd dim li. 13Cov vajntxwv uas kav lub nroog Hamas, lub nroog Alenpas, lub nroog Xefavais, lub nroog Henas thiab lub nroog Ivas dua twg tas lawm?” 14Vajntxwv Hexekiyas txais tsab ntawv ntawm cov xa ntawv tuaj los nyeem. Nws coj tsab ntawv mus rau hauv lub Tuamtsev thiab muab nthuav rau ntawm tus TSWV xubntiag 15thiab thov hais tias, “Tus TSWV uas yog cov Yixalayees tus Vajtswv, koj zaum saum koj lub zwmtxwv ntawm ob tug qhelunpees kis nruab nrab, koj tib leeg xwb thiaj yog tus Vajtswv uas kav tagnrho tej tebchaws hauv ntiajteb no. Koj yog tus uas tsim lub ntuj thiab lub ntiajteb. 16Tus TSWV, thov koj tsa qhovmuag saib tej xwm uas los raug peb. Thov lees paub tej lus uas Xenakhelis thuam koj uas yog Vajtswv tus muaj sia nyob. 17Tus TSWV, peb paub hais tias cov Axilias cov vajntxwv tau tua ntau haivneeg thiab rhuav lawv tej tebchaws puastsuaj tas nyob qhuav nquas cia, 18thiab muab lawv tej mlom uas tsis yog vajtswv hlawv povtseg tas, tej vajtswv ntawd yog luag muab pobzeb thiab muab ntoo txua xwb. 19Tus TSWV uas yog peb tus Vajtswv, nimno thov koj pab peb kom dim ntawm cov Axilias txhais tes, txhua haivneeg uas nyob hauv ntiajteb thiaj yuav paub hais tias tsuas yog koj tib leeg xwb thiaj yog tus TSWV uas yog Vajtswv.”
Yaxayas Xa Xov Mus Rau Vajntxwv Hexekiyas
(Yaxayas 37.21-38)
20Tom qab ntawd, Yaxayas xa xov mus hais rau Vajntxwv Hexekiyas paub hais tias, tus TSWV twb hnov vajntxwv tej lus thov lawm, 21tus TSWV hais tias, “Xenakhelis, lub nroog Yeluxalees yuav luag koj plig thiab hnyos koj. 22Koj puas paub hais tias, koj saib tsis taus thiab thuam leej twg? Twb yog koj saib tsis taus thiab tsis hwm kuv uas yog cov Yixalayees tus Vajtswv uas dawbhuv ntag. 23Koj txib koj cov neeg xa xov tuaj hais khav ntxhias rau kuv hais tias koj cov tubrog caij tsheb nees mus txeeb tau tej roob siab hauv tebchaws Lenpanoos. Koj khav hais tias koj muab cov ntoo ciab uas siab tshaj thiab cov ntoo thuv uas zoo nkauj saud ntov huv tibsi povtseg, thiab koj mus txog hauv lub plawv zoov nujtxeeg uas deb heev. 24Koj khav hais tias koj tau mus khawb qhovtshij thiab haus tej dej hauv luag tej tebchaws thiab coj koj cov tubrog mus tsuj tus dej Niles nram tebchaws Iziv nqhuab hlo. 25“Koj tsis tau hnov hais tias kuv twb npaj tej no ntev los lawm no los? Nimno kuv ua raws li kuv tau hais tseg. Kuv pub koj muaj hwjchim rhuav tej nroog uas luag txhim ntsa yeej khov kho ntawd vau tas. 26Cov neeg uas nyob hauv tej nroog ntawd tsis muaj zog li; lawv ntshai heev ua ibce tshee hnyo. Lawv zoo ib yam li tej nroj tsuag uas tuaj hauv tej teb lossis ib yam li tej yub nroj uas tuaj saum tej rutsev uas raug cov cua kub sab hnubtuaj tuaj ntsawj ua rau tej nplooj qhuav nkig nkuav. 27“Tiamsis kuv paub koj lub siab tas lawm, txawm yog koj yuav ua ib yam dabtsi thiab yuav mus qhov twg los kuv yeej paub huv tibsi. Kuv paub hais tias koj chim heev. 28Kuv hnov hais tias koj chim rau kuv thiab khavtheeb heev, yog li ntawd, kuv yuav muab nqelauj los nqe koj qhovntswg thiab muab saw hlau sam koj qhovncauj, thiab cab koj taug txojkev uas koj tuaj rov qab.” 29Ces Yaxayas hais rau Vajntxwv Hexekiyas hais tias, “Tej xwm uas yuav muaj tshwm los yog li no: Xyoo no thiab lwm xyoo, koj thiab koj cov pejxeem yuav tau noj tej qoobloo uas tsis yog nej cog, tiamsis xab xyoo nej yuav cog thiab yuav tau sau. Nej yuav tau cog txiv hmab thiab tau noj tej txiv hmab ntawd. 30Cov Yudas uas seem nyob hauv lub tebchaws yuav zoo ib yam li tsob ntoo uas tej cag ntsia av tob tob thiab yuav tawg paj txi txiv, 31rau qhov tus TSWV npaj siab cia cov neeg uas nyob hauv lub nroog Yeluxalees thiab saum lub Roob Xi-oos ua cov uas seem ntawd. 32“Tus TSWV hais txog tus vajntxwv uas kav lub tebchaws Axilias li no: ‘Nws yuav tsis tau tuaj rau hauv lub nroog no lossis tua tsis tau ib hnee tuaj li. Cov tubrog uas muaj daim thaiv hniav ntaj yuav tuaj tsis tau ze lub nroog no thiab yuav khawb tsis tau av meem kom nce tau rau hauv lub nroog. 33Nws yuav taug txojkev uas nws tuaj rov mus tsev, nws yuav tsis tau los rau hauv lub nroog no. Kuv yog tus TSWV uas hais tej lus no. 34Kuv yuav tiv thaiv thiab tsomkwm lub nroog no kom kuv thiaj tau ntsejmuag thiab kom muaj raws li tej lus uas kuv tau cog tseg rau kuv tus tubtxib Daviv lawm.’ ” 35Hmo ntawd tus TSWV ib tug timtswv los tua cov tubrog Axilias hauv lawv lub yeej tuag ib puas yim caum tsib txhiab leej. Thaum kaj ntug lawv cov tubrog tuag pawglug cia xwb! 36Xenakhelis uas yog tus vajntxwv kav lub tebchaws Axilias thiaj li thim nws cov tubrog rov mus rau pem lub nroog Nineves lawm. 37Muaj ib hnub, thaum nws tabtom mus pe nws tus mlom Nilaus hauv lub tsev teev mlom, ces nws ob tug tub uas yog Alameles thiab Salexes, txawm nqa ntaj mus muab nws tua tuag, thiab nkawd khiav mus nyob rau tebchaws Alalaj lawm. Nws tus tub uas hu ua Exahadoos thiaj ua vajntxwv hloov nws chaw.