1 Y COMO el rey Ezechîas lo oyó, rasgó sus vestidos, y cubrióse de saco, y entróse en la casa de Jehová.

2 Y envió á Eliacim el mayordomo, y á Sebna escriba, y á los ancianos de los sacerdotes, vestidos de sacos á Isaías profeta hijo de Amós,

3 Que le dijesen: Así ha dicho Ezechîas: Este día es día de angustia, y de reprensión, y de blasfemia; porque los hijos han venido hasta la rotura, y la que pare no tiene fuerzas.

4 Quizá oirá Jehová tu Dios todas las palabras de Rabsaces, al cual el rey de los Asirios su señor ha enviado para injuriar al Dios vivo, y á vituperar con palabras, las cuales Jehová tu Dios ha oído: por tanto, eleva oración por las reliquias que aun se hallan.

5 Vinieron pues los siervos del rey Ezechîas á Isaías.

6 E Isaías les respondió: Así diréis á vuestro señor: Así ha dicho Jehová; No temas por las palabras que has oído, con las cuales me han blasfemado los siervos del rey de Asiria.

7 He aquí pondré yo en él un espíritu, y oirá rumor, y volveráse á su tierra: y yo haré que en su tierra caiga á cuchillo.

8 Y regresando Rabsaces, halló al rey de Asiria combatiendo á Libna; porque había oído que se había partido de Lachîs.

9 Y oyó decir de Thiraca rey de Ethiopía: He aquí es salido para hacerte guerra. Entonces volvió él, y envió embajadores á Ezechîas, diciendo:

10 Así diréis á Ezechîas rey de Judá: No te engañe tu Dios en quien tú confías, para decir: Jerusalem no será entregada en mano del rey de Asiria.

11 He aquí tú has oído lo que han hecho los reyes de Asiria á todas las tierras, destruyéndolas; ¿y has tú de escapar?

12 ¿Libráronlas los dioses de las gentes, que mis padres destruyeron, es á saber, Gozán, y Harán, y Reseph, y los hijos de Edén que estaban en Thalasar?

13 ¿Dónde está el rey de Hamath, el rey de Arphad, el rey de la ciudad de Sepharvaim, de Hena, y de Hiva?

14 Y tomó Ezechîas las letras de mano de los embajadores; y después que las hubo leído, subió á la casa de Jehová, y extendiólas Ezechîas delante de Jehová.

15 Y oró Ezechîas delante de Jehová, diciendo: Jehová Dios de Israel, que habitas entre los querubines, tú solo eres Dios de todos los reinos de la tierra; tú hiciste el cielo y la tierra.

16 Inclina, oh Jehová, tu oído, y oye; abre, oh Jehová, tus ojos, y mira: y oye las palabras de Sennachêrib, que ha enviado á blasfemar al Dios viviente.

17 Es verdad, oh Jehová, que los reyes de Asiria han destruído las gentes y sus tierras;

18 Y que pusieron en el fuego á sus dioses, por cuanto ellos no eran dioses, sino obra de manos de hombres, madera ó piedra, y así los destruyeron.

19 Ahora pues, oh Jehová Dios nuestro, sálvanos, te suplico, de su mano, para que sepan todos los reinos de la tierra que tú solo, Jehová, eres Dios.

20 Entonces Isaías hijo de Amós envió á decir á Ezechîas: Así ha dicho Jehová, Dios de Israel: Lo que me rogaste acerca de Sennachêrib rey de Asiria, he oído.

21 Esta es la palabra que Jehová ha hablado contra él: Hate menospreciado, hate escarnecido la virgen hija de Sión; ha movido su cabeza detrás de ti la hija de Jerusalem.

22 ¿A quién has injuriado y á quién has blasfemado? ¿y contra quién has hablado alto, y has alzado en alto tus ojos? Contra el Santo de Israel.

23 Por mano de tus mensajeros has proferido injuria contra el Señor, y has dicho: Con la multitud de mis carros he subido á las cumbres de los montes, á las cuestas del Líbano; y cortaré sus altos cedros, sus hayas escogidas; y entraré á la morada de su término, al monte de su Carmel.

24 Yo he cavado y bebido las aguas ajenas, y he secado con las plantas de mis pies todos los ríos de lugares bloqueados.

25 ¿Nunca has oído que mucho tiempo ha yo lo hice, y de días antiguos lo he formado? Y ahora lo he hecho venir, y fué para desolación de ciudades fuertes en montones de ruinas.

26 Y sus moradores, cortos de manos, quebrantados y confusos, fueron cual hierba del campo, como legumbre verde, y heno de los tejados, que antes que venga á madurez es seco.

27 Yo he sabido tu asentarte, tu salir y tu entrar, y tu furor contra mí.

28 Por cuanto te has airado contra mí, y tu estruendo ha subido á mis oídos, yo por tanto pondré mi anzuelo en tus narices, y mi bocado en tus labios, y te haré volver por el camino por donde viniste.

29 Y esto te será por señal Ezechîas: Este año comerás lo que nacerá de suyo, y el segundo año lo que nacerá de suyo; y el tercer año haréis sementera, y segaréis, y plantaréis viñas, y comeréis el fruto de ellas.

30 Y lo que hubiere escapado, lo que habrá quedado de la casa de Judá, tornará á echar raíz abajo, y hará fruto arriba.

31 Porque saldrán de Jerusalem reliquias, y los que escaparán, del monte de Sión: el celo de Jehová de los ejércitos hará esto.

32 Por tanto, Jehová dice así del rey de Asiria: No entrará en esta ciudad, ni echará saeta en ella; ni vendrá delante de ella escudo, ni será echado contra ella baluarte.

33 Por el camino que vino se volverá, y no entrará en esta ciudad, dice Jehová.

34 Porque yo ampararé á esta ciudad para salvarla, por amor de mí, y por amor de David mi siervo.

35 Y aconteció que la misma noche salió el ángel de Jehová, é hirió en el campo de los Asirios ciento ochenta y cinco mil; y como se levantaron por la mañana, he aquí los cuerpos de los muertos.

36 Entonces Sennachêrib, rey de Asiria se partió, y se fué y tornó á Nínive, donde se estuvo.

37 Y aconteció que, estando él adorando en el templo de Nisroch su dios, Adramelech y Saresar sus hijos lo hirieron á cuchillo; y huyéronse á tierra de Ararat. Y reinó en su lugar Esar-hadón su hijo.

1 And on hearing it, King Hezekiah took off his robe, and put on haircloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

3 And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame; for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them.

4 It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so then make your prayer for the rest of the people.

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing.

7 See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death by the sword.

8 So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah, for it had come to his ears that he had gone away from Lachish.

9 And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, he sent representatives to Hezekiah again, saying,

10 This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

11 No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse; and will you be kept safe?

12 Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena and of Ivvah?

14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah made his prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.

16 Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord, and let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see; take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.

17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made waste the nations and their lands,

18 And have given their gods to the fire; for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands; so they have given them to destruction.

19 But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hands, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you and only you, O Lord, are God.

20 Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer which you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears.

21 This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you.

22 Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.

23 You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods; I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods.

24 I have made water-holes and taken their waters, and with my foot I have made all the rivers of Egypt dry.

25 Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.

26 This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field and the green plant, like grass on the house-tops.

27 But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.

28 Because your wrath against me and your words of pride have come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.

29 And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself; and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed and get in the grain and make vine-gardens and take of their fruit.

30 And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth and give fruit.

31 For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

32 For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it;

33 By the way he came he will go back, and he will not get into this town, says the Lord.

34 For I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies.

36 So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went back to his place at Nineveh.

37 And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword; and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son became king in his place.