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2 Kings 19 CEV
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Kings 19 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_kings/19.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_kings/19-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 2 Kings 19</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_kings/18.htm" title="2 Kings 18">◄</a> 2 Kings 19 <a href="../2_kings/20.htm" title="2 Kings 20">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Hezekiah Asks Isaiah the Prophet for Advice</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="ISA 37:1-13">Isaiah 37.1-13</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.1" class="v12_19_1">1</span>As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. </span><span class="v12_19_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.2" class="v12_19_2">2</span>He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell the prophet Isaiah:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.3" class="v12_19_3">3</span>These are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born. </span><span class="v12_19_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.4" class="v12_19_4">4</span>Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the <span class="nd">Lord</span> heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.5" class="v12_19_5">5</span>When these leaders went to Isaiah, </span><span class="v12_19_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.6" class="v12_19_6">6</span>he told them that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had this message for Hezekiah:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_6">I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. </span><span class="v12_19_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.7" class="v12_19_7">7</span>I will upset him with rumors about what's happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.8" class="v12_19_8">8</span>Meanwhile, the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.9" class="v12_19_9">9</span>About this same time the king of Assyria learned that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.9!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.10" class="v12_19_10">10</span>Don't trust your God or be fooled by his promise to defend Jerusalem against me. </span><span class="v12_19_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.11" class="v12_19_11">11</span>You have heard how we Assyrian kings have completely wiped out other nations. What makes you feel so safe? </span><span class="v12_19_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.12" class="v12_19_12">12</span>The Assyrian kings before me destroyed the towns of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and everyone from Eden who lived in Telassar. What good did their gods do them? </span><span class="v12_19_13"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.13" class="v12_19_13">13</span>The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Hezekiah Prays</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="ISA 37:14-20">Isaiah 37.14-20</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.14" class="v12_19_14">14</span>After Hezekiah had read the note from the king of Assyria, he took it to the temple and spread it out for the <span class="nd">Lord</span> to see. </span><span class="v12_19_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.15" class="v12_19_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> He prayed:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_15"><span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.15!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world. </span><span class="v12_19_16"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.16" class="v12_19_16">16</span>But just look how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.17" class="v12_19_17">17</span>It is true, our <span class="nd">Lord</span>, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. </span><span class="v12_19_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.18" class="v12_19_18">18</span>They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped. </span><span class="v12_19_19"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.19" class="v12_19_19">19</span>But you are our <span class="nd">Lord</span> and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only God.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s Answer to Hezekiah</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="ISA 37:21-35">Isaiah 37.21-35</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.20" class="v12_19_20">20</span>Isaiah went to Hezekiah and told him that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel had said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_20">Hezekiah, I heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria. </span><span class="v12_19_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.21" class="v12_19_21">21</span>Now this is what I say to that king:</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_21">The people of Jerusalem</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_21">hate and make fun of you;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_21">they laugh</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_21">behind your back.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.22" class="v12_19_22">22</span>Sennacherib, you cursed,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_22">shouted, and sneered at me,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_22">the holy God of Israel.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.23" class="v12_19_23">23</span>You let your officials</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_23">insult me, the Lord.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23">And this is how you</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_23">bragged about yourself:</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23">“I led my chariots</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23">to the highest heights</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_23">of Lebanon's mountains.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23">I went deep into its forest,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_23">cutting down the best cedar</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_23">and cypress trees.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.24" class="v12_19_24">24</span>I dried up every stream</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_24">in the land of Egypt,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_24">and I drank water</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_24">from wells I had dug.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.25" class="v12_19_25">25</span>Sennacherib, now listen</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_25">to me, the Lord.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_25">I planned all this long ago.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_25">And you don't even realize</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_25">that I alone am the one</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_25">who decided that you</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_25">would do these things.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_25">I let you make ruins</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_25">of fortified cities.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_26"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.26" class="v12_19_26">26</span>Their people became weak,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_26">terribly confused.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_26">They were like wild flowers</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_26">or tender young grass</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_26">growing on a flat roof,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_26">scorched before it matures.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.26!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_27"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.27" class="v12_19_27">27</span>I know all about you,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_27">even how fiercely angry</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_27">you are with me.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_28"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.28" class="v12_19_28">28</span>I have seen your pride</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_28">and the tremendous hatred</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_28">you have for me.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_28">Now I will put a hook</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_28">in your nose,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_28">a bit in your mouth,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.28!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v12_19_28">then I will send you back</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v12_19_28">to where you came from.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_29"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.29" class="v12_19_29">29</span>Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest. </span><span class="v12_19_30"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.30" class="v12_19_30">30</span>Those who survive in Judah will be like a vine that puts down deep roots and bears fruit. </span><span class="v12_19_31"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.31" class="v12_19_31">31</span>I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> All-Powerful, will see to it that some who live in Jerusalem will survive.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_19_32"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.32" class="v12_19_32">32</span>I promise that the king of Assyria won't get into Jerusalem, or shoot an arrow into the city, or even surround it and prepare to attack. </span><span class="v12_19_33"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.33" class="v12_19_33">33</span>As surely as I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, he will return by the way he came and will never enter Jerusalem. </span><span class="v12_19_34"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.34" class="v12_19_34">34</span>I will protect it for myself and for my servant David.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Death of King Sennacherib</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="ISA 37:36-38">Isaiah 37.36-38</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_19_35"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.35" class="v12_19_35">35</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.35!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> That same night the <span class="nd">Lord</span> sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed 185,000 of them. And so the next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies. </span><span class="v12_19_36"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.36" class="v12_19_36">36</span>After this King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh. </span><span class="v12_19_37"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.19.37" class="v12_19_37">37</span>One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.19.37!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">19.9 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Ethiopia: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">19.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">winged creatures: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Two winged creatures made of gold were on the top of the sacred chest and were symbols of the <char style="nd">Lord</char>'s throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18; 2 Samuel 6.2).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">19.26 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">tender young grass … matures: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Many of the houses had roofs made of packed earth. Grass would sometimes grow out of the roof, but would die quickly because of the sun and hot winds.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">19.28 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">I will put … your mouth: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">This is how the Assyrians treated their prisoners, and now the <char style="nd">Lord</char> will treat Sennacherib the same way.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">19.37 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Esarhaddon became king: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Ruled Assyria 681–669 <char style="sc">b.c.</char></char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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