37:1 And it came to pass, when melekh YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) heard [it], that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into bayit YHWH (יהוה).
37:2 And he shalach (sent) Elyakim, who [was] over the bayit (household), and Shevna (vigour) the sofer, and the Ziknei ha Kohenim covered with sackcloth, unto YeshaYahu ha Navi ben Amotz (אמוץ).
37:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ), This day [is] a yom tzarah (day of trouble), and of tokhechah (rebuke), and of ne'atzah (blasphemy): for the banim are come to the mashber (crisis of birth), and [there is] not ko'ach (strength) to bring forth.
37:4 It may be YHWH (יהוה) Eloheicha will hear the words of Rav Shakeh (chief cupbearer), whom the melekh of Ashur his master hath sent to reproach the living Elohim (אלהים), and will reprove the divrei which YHWH (יהוה) Eloheicha hath heard: wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left.
37:5 So the avadim of melekh YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) came to YeshaYahu.
37:6 And YeshaYahu said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith YHWH (יהוה), Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the avadim of the melekh of Ashur have blasphemed Me.
37:7 See, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
37:8 So Rav Shakeh returned, and found the melekh of Ashur warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lakish.
37:9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah melekh of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard [it], he shalach (sent) messengers to YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ), saying,
37:10 Thus shall ye speak to YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) melekh of Yehudah, saying, Let not Eloheicha, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be given into the hand of the melekh of Ashur.
37:11 Hinnei, thou hast heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Telassar?
37:13 Where [is] the melekh of Hamath, and the melekh of Arphad, and the melekh of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
37:14 And YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) went up unto bayit YHWH (יהוה), and spread it before YHWH (יהוה).
37:15 And YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ) prayed unto YHWH (יהוה), saying,
37:16 O YHWH (יהוה) Tzva'ot, Elohim (אלהים) of Yisrael, that dwellest [between] the Keruvim, thou [art] Elohim (אלהים), [even] thou alone, of all the mamlechot (kingdoms) ha eretz: thou hast made Shamayim and eretz. (YeshaYahu 37:16, chp 45:5; chp 43:10,11)
37:17 Incline thine ear, O YHWH (יהוה), and hear; open thine eyes, O YHWH (יהוה), and see: and hear all the words Sanecheriv, which hath shalach (sent) to reproach the living Elohim (אלהים).
37:18 Of a truth, YHWH (יהוה), the kings of Ashur have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
37:19 And 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.
37:20 Now therefore, O YHWH (יהוה) our Elohim (אלהים), save us from his hand, that all the mamlechot ha eretz may know that thou [art] YHWH (יהוה), [even] thou only.
37:21 Then YeshaYahu ben Amotz (אמוץ) shalach (sent) unto YechizkiYahu (חזקיּה ), saying, Thus saith YHWH (יהוה) Elohim (אלהים) Yisrael, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sanecheriv melekh of Ashur:
37:22 This [is] the Dvar which YHWH (יהוה) hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, bat Tzyon, hath despised thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; bat Yerushalayim hath shaken her head at thee.
37:23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] against the set apart One of Yisrael.
37:24 By thy avadim hast thou reproached the Adonay (אדני), and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Levanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, [and] the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, [and] the forest of his Carmel.
37:25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities [into] ruinous heaps.
37:27 Therefore their inhabitants [were] of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as corn] blasted before it be grown up.
37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
37:29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
37:30 And this [shall be] a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat [this] year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of bayit Yehudah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
37:32 For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Tzyon: the zeal of YHWH (יהוה) Tzva'ot shall do this.
37:33 Therefore thus saith YHWH (יהוה) concerning the melekh of Ashur, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
37:34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith YHWH (יהוה).
37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for My eved David's sake.
37:36 Then the messenger of YHWH (יהוה) went forth, and smote in the camp of the Ashurns a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, Hinnei, they [were] all pegarim mesim (dead corpses).
37:37 So Sanecheriv melekh of Ashur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in bayit Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his Banim smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the eretz Armenia: and Esar Chadon his son reigned in his place.