AND it came to pass, when King Yechizqiyahu heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahuah.
And he sent Elyaqiym, who was over the household, and Shevnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto El-Yesha`yahu the prophet the son of Amots.
And they said unto him, Thus says Yechizqiyahu, 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 Yahuah Elohayka will hear את the words of Rav-Shaqeh, whom the king of Ashshur his adoniy has sent to reproach the living Elohiym, and will reprove the words which Yahuah Elohayka has heard: wherefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.
So the servants of King Yechizqiyahu came to Yesha`yahu.
And Yesha`yahu said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your adoniy, Thus says Yahuah, Be not afraid of the words that you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Ashshur have blasphemed me.
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
So Rav-Shaqeh returned, and found the king of Ashshur warring against Livnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lakiysh.
And he heard say concerning Tirhaqah king of Kush, He is come forth to make war with you. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Yechizqiyahu, saying,
Thus shall ye speak to Yechizqiyahu king of Yahudah, saying, Let not your Elohiym, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be given into the hand of the king of Ashshur.
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Ashshur have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shall you be delivered?
Have the elohai of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Retseph, and the children of Eden which were in Tela'ssar?
Where is the king of Chamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Cepharvayim, Hena, and Avva?
And Yechizqiyahu received the cepher from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Yechizqiyahu went up unto the house of Yahuah, and spread it before Yahuah.
And Yechizqiyahu prayed unto El-Yahuah, saying,
O Yahuah Tseva'oth, the Elohai of Yashar'el, that dwell between the Keruviym, you are the Elohiym, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: you have made the heavens and the earth.
Incline your ear, O Yahuah, and hear; open your eyes, O Yahuah, and see: and hear את all the words of Cancheriyv, which has sent to reproach the living Elohiym.
Of a truth, Yahuah, the kings of Ashshur have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
And have cast their elohiym into the fire: for they were no elohiym, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
Now therefore, O Yahuah Elohaynu, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahuah, even you only.
Then Yesha`yahu the son of Amots sent unto Yechizqiyahu, saying, Thus says Yahuah Elohai of Yashar'el, Whereas you have prayed to me against Cancheriyv king of Ashshur:
This is the word which Yahuah has spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head at you.
Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Yashar'el.
By your servants have you reproached Adonai, and have 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 Karmel.
I have dug, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
Have you 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 you should 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 grain blasted before it be grown up.
But I know your abode, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against me.
Because your rage against me, and your tumult, is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
And this shall be a sign unto you, Ye shall eat this year such as grows of itself; and the second year that which springs 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 Yahudah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Tsiyon: the zeal of Yahuah Tseva'oth shall do this.
Therefore thus says Yahuah concerning the king of Ashshur, 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, says Yahuah.
For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Then the angel of Yahuah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Ashshuriym a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
So Cancheriyv king of Ashshur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Niyneveh.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nicrok his elohiym, that Adrammelek and Shar'etser his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat: and Ecar-Chaddon his son reigned in his stead.