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rib had received advice concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, that he was advancing to give him battle; he 10 sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying: Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Let not thy God, in whom thou confidest, deceive thee; by assuring thee, That Jerusalem shall not be given 11 up into the hand of the king of Assyria. Thou hast certainly heard, what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, which they have utterly destroyed: and 12 shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those, which my fathers have destroyed? Gozan, and Haran, and Retseph; and the 13 sons of Eden, which were in Thelassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?

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And Hezekiah received the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up to the house of JEHOVAH and Hezekiah spread 15 them before the presence of JEHOVAH. And He16 zekiah prayed before JEHOVAH, saying: O JEHOVAH, God of hosts, thou God of Israel, who art seated on the Cherubim! Thou art the God, Thou alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth; 17 Thou hast made the heavens, and the earth; Incline, O JEHOVAH, thine ear and hear; open, O JEHOVAH, thine eyes, and see: yea, hear all the words of Senacherib, which he hath sent to reproach 18 the living God. In truth, O JEHOVAH, the kings

of Assyria have destroyed all the nations, and their 19 lands; and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of the hands of man, wood and stone; therefore they have de20 stroyed them. And now, O JEHOVAH our God, save us, we beseech thee, from his hand; that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou JEHOVAH art the only God.

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Then Isaiah, the son of Amots, sent unto Hezekiah, saying: Thus saith JEHOVAH the God of Israel: Thy prayer unto me, concerning Senacherib 22 king of Assyria, I have heard. This is the word, which JEHOVAH hath spoken concerning him:

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THE virgin daughter of Sion hath despised thee, she hath laughed thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head behind thee.

Whom hast thou reproached, and reviled; and
against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?
And hast lifted up thine eyes on high? even
against the Holy One of Israel.

By thy messengers hast thou reproached JEHO-
VAH, and said:

By the multitude of my chariots have I ascended
The height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon;
And I will cut down his tallest cedars, his
choicest fir-trees;

And I will penetrate into his extreme retreats,
his richest forests.

I have digged, and I have drunk strange waters;
And I have dried up with the sole of my feet all
the canals of fenced places.

Hast thou not heard, of old, that I have disposed it?
And, of ancient times, that I have formed it?

Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldst
be to lay waste,

Warlike nations, strong fenced cities.

Therefore were their inhabitants of small strength; they were dismayed and confounded:

They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb;

The grass of the house-top; and as the corn blasted before it groweth up.

But thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in,

And thy rage against me, I have known. 29. Because thy rage against me, and thy insolence, is come up into mine ears;

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Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy jaws;

And I will turn thee back by the way in which thou camest.

And this shall be a sign unto thee:

Eat this year that which groweth of itself;
And the second year, that which springeth up of
the same;

And in the third year sow ye, and reap;

And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
And again shall the escaped, the remnant of the
house of Judah,

Strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.
For from Jerusalem shall go forth the remnant ;
And the part escape from mount Sion:

The zeal of JEHOVAH God of hosts shall effect this. 32 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH concerning the king of Assyria:

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He shall not enter into this city;
Nor shall he shoot an arrow there;

Nor shall he present a shield before it ;
Nor shall he cast up a mound against it.

By the way, in which he came, by the same shall

he return;

And into this city shall he not come; saith JE

HOVAH,

And I will protect this city to deliver it;

For mine own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

And the angel of JEHOVAH went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand men: and when the people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all 36 dead corpses. Then Senacherib king of Assyria de

camped, and departed, and returned; and dwelt at 37 Niniveh. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroc his god, Adramelec and Sharetser, his sons, smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia; and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

CHAP. XXXVIII.

1 At that time Hezekiah was seized with a mortal AT sickness and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amots, came unto him; and said unto him: Thus saith JEHOVAH: Give orders concerning the affairs of thy family; for thou must die; thou shalt no longer live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall; and 3 made his supplication to JEHOVAH. And he said: I beseech thee, O JEHOVAH, remember now, how I have endeavoured to walk before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart; and have done that which is good in thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept, and la4 mented grievously. Now [before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court] the word of JEHOVAH 5 came unto him saying: Go [back], and say unto Hezekiah: Thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy supplication; I have seen thy tears. Behold [I will heal thee; and on the third day thou shalt go up into the house of JE6 HOVAH. And], I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee, and this city, from the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will protect 22 this city. And [Hezekiah said: By what sign shall I know, that I shall go up into the house of JEHO7 VAH? And Isaiah said:] This shall be the sign unto thee from JEHOVAH, that JEHOVAH will bring 8 to effect this word, which he hath spoken. Behold, I bring back the shadow of the degrees, by which the sun is gone down on the degrees of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. And the sun returned backward

ten degrees, on the degrees by which it had gone 21 down. And Isaiah said: Let them take a lump of figs and they bruised them, and applied them to the boil; and he recovered.

9 THE WRITING OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH, WHEN HE HAD BEEN SICK, AND WAS RECOVERED FROM HIS SICKNESS.

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I said, when my days were just going to be
cut off,

I shall pass through the gates of the grave;
I am deprived of the residue of my years!

I said, I shall no more see JEHOVAH in the land
of the living!

I shall no longer behold man, with the inhabitants of the world!

My habitation is taken away, and is removed from me, like a shepherd's tent:

My life is cut off, as by the weaver; he will
sever me from the loom ;

In the course of the day thou wilt finish my web.
I roared until the morning, like the lion;

So did he break to pieces all my bones.

Like the swallow, like the crane, did I twitter;
I made a moaning like the dove.

Mine eyes fail with looking upward :

O Lord, contend thou for me; be thou my surety. 15 What shall I say? he hath given me a promise, and he hath performed it.

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Through the rest of my years will I reflect on this bitterness of my soul.

For this cause shall it be declared, O JEHOVAH,

concerning thee,

That thou hast revived my spirit ;

That thou hast restored my health, and prolonged my life.

Behold, my anguish is changed into ease!

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