Isaiah:36-41

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* 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 . * Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall , and prayed unto the LORD , * And said , Remember now , O LORD , I beseech thee , how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart , and have done that which is good in thy sight . And Hezekiah wept sore . * Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah , saying , * Go , and say to Hezekiah , Thus saith the LORD , the God of David thy father , I have heard thy prayer , I have seen thy tears : behold , I will add unto thy days fifteen years . * And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria : and I will defend this city . * And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD , that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken ; * Behold , I will bring again the shadow of the degrees , which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz , ten degrees backward . So the sun returned ten degrees , by which degrees it was gone down . * The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah , when he had been sick , and was recovered of his sickness : * I said in the cutting off of my days , I shall go to the gates of the grave : I am deprived of the residue of my years . * I said , I shall not see the LORD , even the LORD , in the land of the living : I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world . * Mine age is departed , and is removed from me as a shepherd 's tent : I have cut off like a weaver my life : he will cut me off with pining sickness : from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me . * I reckoned till morning , that , as a lion , so will he break all my bones : from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me . * Like a crane or a swallow , so did I chatter : I did mourn as a dove : mine eyes fail with looking upward : O LORD , I am oppressed ; undertake for me . * What shall I say ? he hath both spoken unto me , and himself hath done it : I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul . * O Lord , by these things men live , and in all these things is the life of my spirit : so wilt thou recover me , and make me to live . * Behold , for peace I had great bitterness : but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption : for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back . * For the grave cannot praise thee , death can not celebrate thee : they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth . * The living , the living , he shall praise thee , as I do this day : the father to the children shall make known thy truth . * The LORD was ready to save me : therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD . * For Isaiah had said , Let them take a lump of figs , and lay it for a plaister upon the boil , and he shall recover . * Hezekiah also had said , What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD ? * At that time Merodachbaladan , the son of Baladan , king of Babylon , sent letters and a present to Hezekiah : for he had heard that he had been sick , and was recovered . * And Hezekiah was glad of them , and shewed them the house of his precious things , the silver , and the gold , and the spices , and the precious ointment , and all the house of his armour , and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house , nor in all his dominion , that Hezekiah shewed them not . * Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah , and said unto him , What said these men ? and from whence came they unto thee ? And Hezekiah said , They are come from a far country unto me , even from Babylon . * Then said he , What have they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered , All that is in mine house have they seen : there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them . * Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah , Hear the word of the LORD of hosts : * Behold , the days come , that all that is in thine house , and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day , shall be carried to Babylon : nothing shall be left , saith the LORD . * And of thy sons that shall issue from thee , which thou shalt beget , shall they take away ; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon . * Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah , Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken . He said moreover , For there shall be peace and truth in my days . * Comfort ye , comfort ye my people , saith your God . * Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem , and cry unto her , that her warfare is accomplished , that her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath received of the LORD 'S hand double for all her sins . * The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness , Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a highway for our God . * Every valley shall be exalted , and every mountain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall be made straight , and the rough places plain : * And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it . * The voice said , Cry . And he said , What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass , and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : * The grass withereth , the flower fadeth : because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass . * The grass withereth , the flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever . * O Zion , that bringest good tidings , get thee up into the high mountain ; O Jerusalem , that bringest good tidings , lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up , be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah , Behold your God ! * Behold , the Lord GOD will come with strong hand , and his arm shall rule for him : behold , his reward is with him , and his work before him . * He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm , and carry them in his bosom , and shall gently lead those that are with young . * Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand , and meted out heaven with the span , and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure , and weighed the mountains in scales , and the hills in a balance ? * Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD , or being his counsellor hath taught him ? * With whom took he counsel , and who instructed him , and taught him in the path of judgment , and taught him knowledge , and shewed to him the way of understanding ? * Behold , the nations are as a drop of a bucket , and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold , he taketh up the isles as a very little thing . * And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn , nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering . * All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing , and vanity . * To whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? * The workman melteth a graven image , and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold , and casteth silver chains . * He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot ; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image , that shall not be moved . * Have ye not known ? have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning ? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth ? * It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth , and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain , and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in : * That bringeth the princes to nothing ; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity . * Yea , they shall not be planted ; yea , they shall not be sown : yea , their stock shall not take root in the earth : and he shall also blow upon them , and they shall wither , and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble . * To whom then will ye liken me , or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy One . * Lift up your eyes on high , and behold who hath created these things , that bringeth out their host by number : he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might , for that he is strong in power ; not one faileth . * Why sayest thou , O Jacob , and speakest , O Israel , My way is hid from the LORD , and my judgment is passed over from my God ? * Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard , that the everlasting God , the LORD , the Creator of the ends of the earth , fainteth not , neither is weary ? there is no searching of his understanding . * He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength . * Even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall : * But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run , and not be weary ; and they shall walk , and not faint . * Keep silence before me , O islands ; and let the people renew their strength : let them come near ; then let them speak : let us come near together to judgment . * Who raised up the righteous man from the east , called him to his foot , gave the nations before him , and made him rule over kings ? he gave them as the dust to his sword , and as driven stubble to his bow . * He pursued them , and passed safely ; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet . * Who hath wrought and done it , calling the generations from the beginning ? I the LORD , the first , and with the last ; I am he . * The isles saw it , and feared ; the ends of the earth were afraid , drew near , and came . * They helped every one his neighbour ; and every one said to his brother , Be of good courage . * So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith , and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil , saying , It is ready for the sodering : and he fastened it with nails , that it should not be moved . * But thou , Israel , art my servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , the seed of Abraham my friend . * Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth , and called thee from the chief men thereof , and said unto thee , Thou art my servant ; I have chosen thee , and not cast thee away . * Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea , I will help thee ; yea , I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness . * Behold , all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded : they shall be as nothing ; and they that strive with thee shall perish . * Thou shalt seek them , and shalt not find them , even them that contended with thee : they that war against thee shall be as nothing , and as a thing of nought . * For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand , saying unto thee , Fear not ; I will help thee . * Fear not , thou worm Jacob , and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee , saith the LORD , and thy redeemer , the Holy One of Israel . * Behold , I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains , and beat them small , and shalt make the hills as chaff . * Thou shalt fan them , and the wind shall carry them away , and the whirlwind shall scatter them : and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD , and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel . * When the poor and needy seek water , and there is none , and their tongue faileth for thirst , I the LORD will hear them , I the God of Israel will not forsake them . * I will open rivers in high places , and fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool of water , and the dry land springs of water . * I will plant in the wilderness the cedar , the shittah tree , and the myrtle , and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the fir tree , and the pine , and the box tree together : * That they may see , and know , and consider , and understand together , that the hand of the LORD hath done this , and the Holy One of Israel hath created it . * Produce your cause , saith the LORD ; bring forth your strong reasons , saith the King of Jacob . * Let them bring them forth , and shew us what shall happen : let them shew the former things , what they be , that we may consider them , and know the latter end of them ; or declare us things for to come . * Shew the things that are to come hereafter , that we may know that ye are gods : yea , do good , or do evil , that we may be dismayed , and behold it together . * Behold , ye are of nothing , and your work of nought : an abomination is he that chooseth you . * I have raised up one from the north , and he shall come : from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name : and he shall come upon princes as upon morter , and as the potter treadeth clay . * Who hath declared from the beginning , that we may know ? and beforetime , that we may say , He is righteous ? yea , there is none that sheweth , yea , there is none that declareth , yea , there is none that heareth your words . * The first shall say to Zion , Behold , behold them : and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings . * For I beheld , and there was no man ; even among them , and there was no counsellor , that , when I asked of them , could answer a word . * Behold , they are all vanity ; their works are nothing : their molten images are wind and confusion . * Behold my servant , whom I uphold ; mine elect , in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles .

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