Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah

1 ^uAs soon as King Hezekiah heard it, ^the tore his clothes and ^vcovered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, ^vcovered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 ^wIt may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^xto mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ^ythe remnant that is left.” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which ^zthe servants of the king of Assyria have ^areviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that ^bhe shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him ^cfall by the sword in his own land.’”

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^dLibnah, for he heard that the king had left ^eLachish. 9 ^fNow the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God ^gin whom you trust deceive you by promising that ^hJerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 ⁱHave the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, ^jGozan, ^kHaran, Rezeph, and the people of ^lEden who were in Telassar? 13 ^mWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received ⁿthe letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^oenthroned above the cherubim, ^pyou are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 ^qIncline your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^ropen your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^sto mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, ^tbut the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, ^uthat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that ^pyou, O Lord, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria ^vI have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

29 “And this shall be ^mthe sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ⁿAnd the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion ^oa band of survivors. ^pThe zeal of the Lord will do this.

32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or ^qcast up a siege mound against it. 33 ^rBy the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 ^sFor I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake ^tand for the sake of my servant David.”

35 And that night ^uthe angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at ^vNineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, ^wAdrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

1 ^xIn those days ^yHezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^z‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Now, O Lord, ^aplease remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and ^bwith a whole heart, ^cand have done what is good in your sight.” ^dAnd Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah ^ethe leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ^fI have heard your prayer; ^gI have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, ^hand I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” 7 And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be ⁱthe sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow ^jto lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, ^kand he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

12 ^lAt that time ^mMerodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ⁿsent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them ^oall his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when ^pall that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18 ^qAnd some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, ^rand they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^s“The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

20 ^tThe rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made ^uthe pool and the conduit ^vand brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 ^wAnd Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

The Angel and the Little Scroll

1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^ya rainbow over his head, and ^zhis face was like the sun, and ^ahis legs like pillars of fire. 2 ^bHe had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, ^clike a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^d“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^eraised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by ^fhim who lives forever and ever, ^gwho created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that ^hin the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ⁱjust as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^j“Take and ^keat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, ^l“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

1 Then I was given ^ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ⁿthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^pforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^p1,260 days, ^qclothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are ^rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, ^sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power ^uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, ^wthe beast that rises from ^xthe bottomless pit^{1 y}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically² is called ^zSodom and ^aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and ^cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^dexchange presents, because these two prophets ^ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days ^fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^g“Come up here!” And ^hthey went up to heaven ⁱin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was ^ja great earthquake, and ^ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^lgave glory to ^mthe God of heaven.

14 ⁿThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then ^othe seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^pthere were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^q“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^rhis Christ, and ^she shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders ^twho sit on their thrones before God ^ufell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

19 Then ^bGod’s temple in heaven was opened, and ^cthe ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^dheavy hail.

The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^eclothed with ^fthe sun, with ^fthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and ^gwas crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^hred dragon, ⁱwith seven heads and ^jten horns, and on his heads ^kseven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ^la third of the stars of heaven and ^mcast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ⁿhe might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, ^oone who is to rule⁴ all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^pcaught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^q1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^rMichael and ^shis angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And ^tthe great dragon was thrown down, ^uthat ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^vthe deceiver of the whole world—^whe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^xthe salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers⁵ has been thrown down, ^ywho accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And ^zthey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^athey loved not their lives ^beven unto death. 12 Therefore, ^crejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^dwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^ehe knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^fthe woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ^gwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^hinto the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ⁱfor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water ^jlike a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^kto make war on the rest of ^lher offspring, ^mon those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ⁿthe testimony of Jesus. And he stood⁶ on the sand of the sea.