Zion's enemies threatened.

B. C. about 713.

f ch. 22. 2. g ch. 27. 10. 1 Or, cliff's sed wutchtowers.

Ps. 104. 30. Joel 2. 28.

i ch. 29. 17. & $5.2.

James 3. 18.

Ich. 30. 30. Zech. 11. 2. 1 Or, and the city shall be siterly abased.

* ch. 30. 24.

a ch. 21. 2. Hab. 2. 8.

Rev. 13. 10.

* ch. 25. 9.

4 Ps. 97. 9.

Zion's peace and security.

9 The earth mourneth and languisheth Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

B. C. about 713.

h ch. 24. 4. Il Or, withered away.

10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; i Ps. 12. 5. now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

ch. 59. 4.

11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall Ps. 7. 14. bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. 13 ¶ Hear, mye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burn

a

JOE to thee that spoilest, and

dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteous

1 ch. 9. 18.

mch. 49. 1.

n Ps. 15. 2. & 24. 4.

Heb. in

righteous

nesses.

Heb. up

rightnesses. II Or, deceits.

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh † uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 16 He shall dwell on thigh; his +Heb. heights, place of defence shall be the munitions

his waters shall be sure.

+ Heb. bloods.

o Ps. 119. 37.

or, high places.

20Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see 'Je-t Ps. 46. 5. & rusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; "not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers + Heb. broad and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast; they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

of spaces, or, hands.

y James 4. 12. Heb. stat

ute-maker.

z Ps. 89. 18. | Or, They have forsaken thy tacklings,

The ruin of Zion's foes.

B. C. about 713.

a Jer. 50. 20.

a Ps. 49. 1.

b Deut. 32. 1.

OME near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let Heb. the ful- the earth hear, and fall that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

ness thereof.

© Joel 2. 20.

d Ps. 102. 26. Ez. 32. 7, 8. Joel 2. 31. & 3. 15. Matt. 24. 29. 2 Pet. 3. 10.

e Rev. 6. 14.

f ch. 14. 12.

g Rev. 6. 13. h Jer. 46. 10. i Jer. 49. 7, &c. Mal. 1. 4.

k ch. 63. 1. Jer. 49. 13. Zeph. 1. 7.

|| Or, rhinoceroses.

2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: fand all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

h

5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall Or, drunken. be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

1 ch. 63. 4.

m See Deut. 29. 23.

n Rev. 14. 11. & 18. 18. & 19.3.

o Mal. 1. 4.
P ch. 14. 23.
Zeph. 2. 14.
Rev. 18. 2.
Or, pelican.

1 2 Kings 21.

8 For it is the day of the LORD's I vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.. 9 m And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; "the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and

ever.

11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and

he shall stretch out upon it the 13. Lam. 2. 8. line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

Her future prosperity.

B. C.

13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in about 713. the fortresses thereof: and 'it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

shall also meet with the wild beasts 14 The wild beasts of the desert of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

16

r ch. 32. 13. Hos. 9. 6.

Or, ostrichea. Heb. daughters of the owl

Heb. Zim
Heb. jim

Or, night
monster.
ch. 13. 21,&c

Seek ye out of the book of the Mal 3. 16. LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

CHAPTER XXXV.

The future prosperity of Zion described.

Hezekiah is comforted.

B. C. 710.

a 2 Kings 19. 1, &c.

H Or, provocation.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Hezekiah sendeth to Isaiah to pray for deliverance. 6 Isaiah comforteth him. 8 Sennacherib sendeth a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah. 14 Hezekiah's prayer. 21 Isaiah foretelleth the destruction of Sennacherib, and the safety of Zim. 36. An angel slay

eth the Assyrians. 37 Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons.

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.

2 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.

3 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.

:

4 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 rem+ Heb. found.nant that is + left.

5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 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.

7 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.

8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

9 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,

10 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.

11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have

The prayer of Hezekiah.

destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

B. C. 710.

13 Where is the king of Hamath, b Jer. 49. 23. and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and

Ivah?

14 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.

15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

17 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.

18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the † nations, and their countries,

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.

20 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.

21 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:

22 This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath de◄ spised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

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 Holy One of Israel.

© Dan. 9. 18.

Heb. lands.

Heb. giren.

+ Heb. By the hand of thy servants.

24 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 there-Heb. the tallof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

ness of the redars thereof, and the choice of the Artreet thereof.

Or. the forest and his fruitful field.

25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the be-Or, fenced sieged places.

and closed.

The Assyrians overthrown.

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.

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.

28 But I know thy labode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

d

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.

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.

31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward :

32 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.

33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come beHeb. shield.fore it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.

34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

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

36 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.

37 ¶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38 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 Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

Hezekiah's life lengthened.

3 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.

4 Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

5 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.

6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

8 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.

9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness :

10 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.

11 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.

charge concerning thy house.

c Neh. 13. 14.

+ Heb. with great weeping.

ch. 37. 35.
2 Kings 20.

8, &c. ch. 7. 11.

+Heb. degrees by, or, with the sun.

f Ps. 27. 13. & 116. 9.

8 Job 7. 6.

12 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 sick-Or, from the ness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

13 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.

thrum.