the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done unto all the countries, and hast banished them: and thou shalt be saved?

Have the gods of the heathen also saved the countries which my fathers destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden of Thelassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Iwa?

And when Hezekiah had received the letter from the messengers, and had read it, he went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it out before the LORD.

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying:

O LORD of hosts, thou God of Israel, which sittest over the cherubims, thou alone art God over all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

O LORD, incline thine ears, and hear. O LORD, open your eyes, and behold! Hear all the
words of Sanherib, whom he has sent to revile the living God!

It is true, O LORD, that the kings of Assyria have made desolate all the kingdoms and their provinces.

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. They are slain.

But now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD alone.

And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Because thou hast asked me of Sanherib king of Assyria,

This is what the LORD saith of him: The virgin daughter of Zion despiseth thee, and mocketh thee; and the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee.

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? Against whom hast thou lifted up thy voice?
and hast lifted up thine eyes against the Holy One of Israel.

By thy servants thou hast defiled the LORD, saying, I went up by the multitude of my chariots unto the height of the mountains that are by the sides of Lebanon, and have cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof, and have come by the height unto the end of this forest of the country.

I have digged and drunk the waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the waters that were stored up.

But hast thou not heard that I did so in time past, and did so of old, and do so now, that strong cities are destroyed into heaps of stones?

And the inhabitants thereof shall be weakened, and shall faint, and shall be ashamed, and shall become grass of the field, and green herbage, as hay upon the housetops, which doth dwell before it be ripe?

But I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.

Because thou hast raged against me, and because thy pride is come up into mine ears, I will put a ring upon thy nose, and a bit in thy mouth, and will bring thee again by the way which thou camest.

And this shall be a sign unto thee: Eat this year that which is trodden down, and the next year that which groweth: in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

For they that are saved of the house of Judah, and they that remain, shall yet again take root among themselves, and bear fruit above themselves.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth those that remain, and them that are saved 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 enter into that city, neither shall he shoot an arrow thither, neither shall he put a shield before it, neither shall he heap a wall about it,

But by the way that he came he shall return, that he come not into this city, saith the LORD.

For I will defend this city, and will save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

And the angel of the LORD came out, and smote in the camp of Assyria an hundred and fourscore thousand men. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies.

And Sanherib king of Assyria departed, and went away, and returned again, and dwelt at Nineveh.

And it came to pass, as he worshipped in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adramelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they fled into the land of Ararat. And Assar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 38
Hezekiah’s fatal illness, recovery, and praise to God.

In those days Hezekiah was 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.

And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD.

And said, Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart, and have done that which was right in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept greatly.

And the word of the LORD came unto Isaiah, saying:

Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, and 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: for I will defend this city.

And have this for a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do these things which he hath spoken:

Behold, I will draw back the shadow of the pointer of the sun, Ahaz, ten lines over which it hath passed; and the sun shall draw back ten lines in the pointer over which it hath passed.

This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he was sick, and was healed of the sickness:

And I said, Now must I go to the gates of hell, because my time was expired, when I thought to live longer.

And I said, Now have I no more to see the LORD, even the LORD in the land of the living; now have I no more to see men with them that live in their time.

My days are expired, and I am cleared away as a shepherd’s hut; and my life is rent as a weaver. He maketh me dry. Thou hast made an end of me the day before evening: 13. I thought, Would that I might live till to-morrow! But he brake all my bones like a lion: for thou makest it up with me the day before evening.

I cried as a crane, and as a swallow, and as a dove: mine eyes would break: O Lord, I am in distress; soothe me.

O how will I speak that he hath promised me, and hath done it! All the days of my life I shall shrink from this affliction of my soul.

O Lord, by this I live, and the life of my spirit is even in this: for thou hast made me to sleep, and hast made me to live.

Behold, I was very afraid for comfort. But thou hast taken my soul in heart, that it be not consumed: for thou hast cast all my sin behind thee.

For hell doth not praise thee, neither doth death glorify thee; neither do they that go down to the pit wait for thy truth,

But only they that live praise thee, as I do now. The Father shall make thy truth known unto the children.

O Lord, help me, and we will sing my songs as long as we live in the house of the Lord.

And Isaiah was told to take a plaster of figs, and to put it upon his gland, that he might be healed.

And Hezekiah said, What a sign is this, that I should go up to the house of the LORD?
(Isaiah)
Chapter 39
Hiskia’s ambition is punished.

At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and gifts unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that he was sick, and that he was strong again.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and shewed them the treasury, and the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointments, and all his armoury, and all the treasure that he had. There was nothing that Hezekiah showed them not in his house, and in his dominion.

And Isaiah the prophet came to Hezekiah the king, and said unto him, What say these men, and whence come they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They come unto me from afar, even from Babylon.

And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah said, All that is in mine house have they seen; and there is nothing that I have not shewed them in my treasures.

And Isaiah said unto 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 gathered unto this day, shall be brought unto Babylon, that nothing shall remain, saith the LORD.

And they shall take thy children, which shall come of thee, and thou shalt beget, and they shall be chamberlains in the court of the king of Babylon.

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah: The word of the LORD is good that thou sayest. And said, Let it only be peace and faithfulness, because I live.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 40
Future of Christ. His forerunner’s sermon.
(Epistle on the day of John the Baptist.)

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak kindly unto Jerusalem, and preach unto her, that