Aug 9 - Isaiah 37-39
Isaiah
1And it happened that, when king Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered the house of the Lord2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet3And they said to him: "Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not enough strength to bring them forth4Perhaps, somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.5And so the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah6And Isaiah said to them: "You shall say this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians blasphemed me7Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land.8Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had set out from Lachish9And he heard from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: "He has gone forth so that he may fight against you." And when he had heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying10"You shall say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying: ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.11Behold, you have heard about all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they have conquered, and so, how can you be delivered12Have the gods of the nations rescued those whom my fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were at Telassar13Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?14And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying16"O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth17O Lord, incline your ear and listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the living God18For truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories19And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into pieces20And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand. And let all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are Lord.21And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of what you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians22this is the word that the Lord has spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you23Whom have you insulted? And whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and raised up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel24By the hand of your servants, you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will reach the top of its summit, to the forest of its Carmel25I dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the river banks with the sole of my foot.26Have you not heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight together, unto its destruction27Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature28I know your habitation, and your arrival, and your departure, and your madness against me29When you became angry against me, your arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you back on the road by which you arrived30But this shall be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit31And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high fruits32For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth, and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this33For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield, nor dig a rampart all around it34He will return on the road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter, says the Lord35And I will protect this city, so that I may save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my servant.36Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all these were dead bodies37And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he returned and lived at Nineveh38And it happened that, as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place
1In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, entered to him, and he said to him: "Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.2And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord3And he said: "I beg you, Lord, I beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping4And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying5"Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days6And I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it7And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word, which he has spoken8Behold, I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten lines." And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through the degrees by which it had descended9The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had recovered from his sickness10"I said: In the middle of my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought the remainder of my years11I said: I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man, nor the habitation of rest12My longevity has been taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver. While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning until evening, you have marked out my limits13I hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my limits14I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my favor15What can I say, or what would he answer me, since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all my years, in the bitterness of my soul16O Lord, if such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may you correct me and may you cause me to live17Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have cast all my sins behind your back18For Hell will not confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who descend into the pit will not hope for your truth19The living, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons20O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.21Now Isaiah had ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed22And Hezekiah said, "What will be the sign that I may go up to the house of the Lord?
1At that time, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah. For he had heard that he had fallen ill and had recovered2And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and he showed them the storehouses of his aromatic spices, and of the silver and gold, and of the perfumes and precious ointments, and all the repositories for his belongings, and all the things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them3Then Isaiah the prophet entered before king Hezekiah, and he said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far away land, from Babylon.4And he said, "What did they see in your house?" And Hezekiah said: "They have seen all the things that are in my house. There was nothing that I did not show them among my treasures.5And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: "Hear the word of the Lord of hosts6Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have stored up, even to this day, will be taken away to Babylon. There will be nothing left behind, says the Lord7And your children, who will issue from you, whom you will produce, they will be taken away. And they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord which he has spoken is good." And he said, "But let there be peace and truth in my days.