1 And it came to be, when Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄,
2 and sent Elyaqim, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and the elders of the kohenim, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Yeshayahu the naḇi, the son of Amots.
3 And they said to him, “Thus said Ḥizqiyahu, ‘This day is a day of distress and rebuke and scorn, for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring forth.
4 ‘It could be that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 your Elohim hears the words of the Raḇshaqĕh, whom his master the sovereign of Ashshur has sent to reproach the living Elohim, and shall rebuke the words which 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 your Elohim has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5 So the servants of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu came to Yeshayahu,
6 and Yeshayahu said to them, “Say this to your master, ‘Thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the sovereign of Ashshur have reviled Me.
7 “See, I am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8 And the Raḇshaqĕh returned and found the sovereign of Ashshur fighting against Liḇnah, for he had heard that he had left Laḵish.
9 And he heard concerning Tirhaqah sovereign of Kush, “He has come out to fight with you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ḥizqiyahu, saying,
10 “Speak to Ḥizqiyahu the sovereign of Yahuḏah, saying, ‘Do not let your Elohim in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Yerushalayim is not given into the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.”
11 ‘See, you have heard what the sovereigns of Ashshur have done to all lands by putting them under the ban. And are you going to be delivered?
12 ‘Have the mighty ones of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Ḥaran and Retseph, and the sons of Ĕḏen who were in Telassar?
13 ‘Where is the sovereign of Ḥamath, and the sovereign of Arpaḏ, and the sovereign of the city of Sepharwayim, Hĕna, and Iwwah?’ ”
14 And Ḥizqiyahu received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Ḥizqiyahu went up to the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and spread it before 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.
15 And Ḥizqiyahu prayed to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, saying,
16 “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, the One who dwells between the kerubim, You are Elohim, You alone, of all the reigns of the earth. You have made the shamayim and earth.
17 “Incline Your ear, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and hear. Open Your eyes, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and see. And hear all the words of Sanḥĕirḇ, who has sent to reproach the living Elohim.
18 “Truly, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, the sovereigns of Ashshur have laid waste all the lands, and their land,
19 and have put their mighty ones into the fire, for they were not mighty ones, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. And they destroyed them.
20 “And now, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 our Elohim, save us from his hand, so that all the reigns of the earth know that You are 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, You alone.”
21 Then Yeshayahu son of Amots sent to Ḥizqiyahu, saying, “Thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sanḥĕirḇ sovereign of Ashshur,
22 this is the word which 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has spoken concerning him, “The maiden, the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, mocked you; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head behind you!
23 “Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes in pride? Against the Qadosh One of Yisra’ĕl!
24 “By the hand of your servants you have reproached 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and said, ‘With my many chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of Leḇanon. And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. And I enter its farthest height, its thickest forest.
25 ‘I have dug and drunk water, and with the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of defence.’
26 “Have you not heard long ago how I made it, from days of old, that I formed it? Now I have brought it about, that you should be for crushing walled cities into heaps of ruins.
27 “And their inhabitants were powerless, they were over-thrown and put to shame. They were as the grass of the field and as the green plant, as the grass on the house-tops and as grain blighted before it is grown.
28 “But I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me.
29 “Because your rage against Me and your pride have come up to My ears, I shall put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I shall turn you back by the way which you came.
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: This year you eat such as grows of itself, and the second year what springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
31 “And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Yahuḏah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32 “For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the ardour of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts does this.
33 “Therefore thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 concerning the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘He does not come into this city, nor does he shoot an arrow there, nor does he come before it with shield, nor does he build a siege mound against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same he turns back. And into this city he does not come,’ declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.
35 ‘And I shall defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant Dawiḏ.’ ”
36 And a messenger of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 went out, and killed in the camp of Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose early in the morning, and saw all of them, dead bodies.
37 And Sanḥĕirḇ the sovereign of Ashshur broke camp and went away, and turned back, and remained at Ninewĕh.
38 And it came to be, as he was bowing himself in the house of Nisroḵ his mighty one, that his sons Aḏrammeleḵ and Sar’etser smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Ĕsarḥaddon reigned in his place.