Isaiah:35-37

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice , and blossom as the rose . * It shall blossom abundantly , and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it , the excellency of Carmel and Sharon , they shall see the glory of the LORD , and the excellency of our God . * Strengthen ye the weak hands , and confirm the feeble knees . * Say to them that are of a fearful heart , Be strong , fear not : behold , your God will come with vengeance , even God with a recompence ; he will come and save you . * Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened , and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped . * Then shall the lame man leap as an hart , and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall waters break out , and streams in the desert . * And the parched ground shall become a pool , and the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of dragons , where each lay , shall be grass with reeds and rushes . * And an highway shall be there , and a way , and it shall be called The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be for those : the wayfaring men , though fools , shall not err therein . * No lion shall be there , nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon , it shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : * And the ransomed of the LORD shall return , and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness , and sorrow and sighing shall flee away . * Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah , that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah , and took them . * And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army . And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller 's field . * Then came forth unto him Eliakim , Hilkiah 's son , which was over the house , and Shebna the scribe , and Joah , Asaph 's son , the recorder . * And Rabshakeh said unto them , Say ye now to Hezekiah , Thus saith the great king , the king of Assyria , What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? * I say , sayest thou , (but they are but vain words ) I have counsel and strength for war : now on whom dost thou trust , that thou rebellest against me ? * Lo , thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed , on Egypt ; whereon if a man lean , it will go into his hand , and pierce it : so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him . * But if thou say to me , We trust in the LORD our God : is it not he , whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away , and said to Judah and to Jerusalem , Ye shall worship before this altar ? * Now therefore give pledges , I pray thee , to my master the king of Assyria , and I will give thee two thousand horses , if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them . * How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master 's servants , and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? * And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it ? the LORD said unto me , Go up against this land , and destroy it . * Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh , Speak , I pray thee , unto thy servants in the Syrian language ; for we understand it : and speak not to us in the Jews ' language , in the ears of the people that are on the wall . * But Rabshakeh said , Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words ? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall , that they may eat their own dung , and drink their own piss with you ? * Then Rabshakeh stood , and cried with a loud voice in the Jews ' language , and said , Hear ye the words of the great king , the king of Assyria . * Thus saith the king , Let not Hezekiah deceive you : for he shall not be able to deliver you . * Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD , saying , The LORD will surely deliver us : this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria . * Hearken not to Hezekiah : for thus saith the king of Assyria , Make an agreement with me by a present , and come out to me : and eat ye every one of his vine , and every one of his fig tree , and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern ; * Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land , a land of corn and wine , a land of bread and vineyards . * Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you , saying , The LORD will deliver us . Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? * Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad ? where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand ? * Who are they among all the gods of these lands , that have delivered their land out of my hand , that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ? * But they held their peace , and answered him not a word : for the king 's commandment was , saying , Answer him not . * Then came Eliakim , the son of Hilkiah , that was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and Joah , the son of Asaph , the recorder , to Hezekiah with their clothes rent , and told him the words of Rabshakeh . * And it came to pass , when king Hezekiah heard it , that he rent his clothes , and covered himself with sackcloth , and went into the house of the LORD . * And he sent Eliakim , who was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth , unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz . * And they said unto him , Thus saith Hezekiah , This day is a day of trouble , and of rebuke , and of blasphemy : for the children are come to the birth , and there is not strength to bring forth . * It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh , whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God , and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard : wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left . * So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah . * And Isaiah said unto them , Thus shall ye say unto your master , Thus saith the LORD , Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard , wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me . * Behold , 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 . * So Rabshakeh returned , and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah : for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish . * And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia , He is come forth to make war with thee . And when he heard it , he sent messengers to Hezekiah , saying , * Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah , saying , Let not thy God , in whom thou trustest , deceive thee , saying , Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria . * Behold , thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly ; and shalt thou be delivered ? * 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 ? * Where is the king of Hamath , and the king of Arphad , and the king of the city of Sepharvaim , Hena , and Ivah ? * And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers , and read it : and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD , and spread it before the LORD . * And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD , saying , * O LORD of hosts , God of Israel , that dwellest between the cherubims , thou art the God , even thou alone , of all the kingdoms of the earth : thou hast made heaven and earth . * Incline thine ear , O LORD , and hear ; open thine eyes , O LORD , and see : and hear all the words of Sennacherib , which hath sent to reproach the living God . * Of a truth , LORD , the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations , and their countries , * 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 . * Now therefore , O LORD our God , save us from his hand , that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD , even thou only . * Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah , saying , Thus saith the LORD God of Israel , Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria : * This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him ; The virgin , the daughter of Zion , hath despised thee , and laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee . * Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed ? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice , and lifted up thine eyes on high ? even against the Holy One of Israel . * By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord , and hast said , By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains , to the sides of Lebanon ; 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 . * I have digged , and drunk water ; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places . * 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 . * 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 . * But I know thy abode , and thy going out , and thy coming in , and thy rage against me . * 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 . * 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 . * And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward , and bear fruit upward : * For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant , and they that escape out of mount Zion : the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this . * Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria , He shall not come into this city , nor shoot an arrow there , nor come before it with shields , nor cast a bank against it . * By the way that he came , by the same shall he return , and shall not come into this city , saith the LORD . * For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake , and for my servant David 's sake . * Then the angel of the LORD went forth , and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand : and when they arose early in the morning , behold , they were all dead corpses . * So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed , and went and returned , and dwelt at Nineveh . * And it came to pass , as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god , that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword ; and they escaped into the land of Armenia : and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead . * In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death . And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him , and said unto him , Thus saith the LORD , Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die , and not live .

---