Isaiah Chapter 37
Showing all 38 verses for Isaiah Chapter 37.
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"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. "
"When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes in grief, put on rough sackcloth as a sign of mourning and desperation, and went into the temple of the LORD."
I want you to see that strength isn't about hiding your fear - it's about what you do with it. When life terrifies you, don't perform composure for others; be honest about how shaken you are, then take that honesty somewhere quiet where you can think clearly and find your footing again.
"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. "
"He sent his palace administrator Eliakim, his secretary Shebna, and the senior priests - all dressed in sackcloth - to speak with the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz."
When you're out of your depth, don't be too proud to ask for guidance from someone wiser than you. Send your pride out the door and go looking for real counsel - that's not weakness, it's how sensible people survive their hardest days.
"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. "
"They told Isaiah, 'Hezekiah says: today is a day of trouble, humiliation and insult - like a mother in labour with no strength left to actually give birth.'"
I know that stuck feeling - past the point of retreat, but not yet strong enough for what's ahead. Don't be ashamed of that place; it's exactly where honest prayer and reaching out to others starts to work, not where hope ends.
"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 remnant that is left. "
"'Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Assyrian commander mocking the living God, and will punish him for them - so pray for the survivors who are still left.'"
Faith doesn't require certainty about outcomes - it's fine to hope without knowing, and to ask others to hope and pray alongside you. Care about the real people left in a crisis, not just about winning the argument.
"So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. "
"So Hezekiah's officials went to Isaiah with this message."
Sometimes the most important thing you do is simply pass the message on, follow through, get the request to where it needs to go. Faithfulness in small, unglamorous steps matters as much as the big prayer itself.
"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. "
"Isaiah told them, 'Tell your master this: the LORD says, Don't be afraid of the words you've heard - the insults the Assyrian king's servants have hurled at me.'"
When someone tries to intimidate you with big threats, remember that fear given power over you is often bigger than the threat itself. I tell you: don't be afraid - not because nothing bad can happen, but because fear shouldn't be what rules your decisions.
"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. "
"'Watch - I will put a spirit in him so that he hears a rumour and goes back to his own country, and there I will have him killed by the sword.'"
Bullies and tyrants rarely get away with it forever - the story doesn't end at the moment they're loudest. Hold on; events tend to bend against cruelty even when it looks unstoppable today.
"So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. "
"So the Assyrian commander went back and found his king fighting against the city of Libnah, having already left Lachish."
Even in the waiting and uncertainty of an unfinished crisis, life and events keep moving. Don't assume stillness on your end means nothing is happening - stay ready and trust the process even when you can't see all of it.
"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, "
"Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah, king of Cush, was marching out to fight him, so he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with a written warning."
What looks like an all-powerful threat in your life usually has cracks you can't yet see. Don't let someone's confidence convince you they're invincible - keep steady and let time reveal what's really going on.
"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. "
"'Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don't let your God, the one you're trusting, fool you into thinking Jerusalem won't fall to the king of Assyria.'"
People will sometimes tell you your hope, your convictions, or your faith are naive - that reality doesn't work that way. Don't let a confident voice talk you out of what you know is true just because it sounds so sure of itself.
"Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? "
"'You've heard what the kings of Assyria do - they destroy every land completely. Do you really think you'll be the exception?'"
Just because something has always gone one way before doesn't mean it must go that way for you. Don't let someone else's track record of crushing others convince you your story has to end the same way.
"Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? "
"'Did the gods of the nations my ancestors destroyed save them - Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the people of Eden in Telassar?'"
Don't let anyone reduce what's real and living in you to just another failed thing among many failed things. Genuine love, genuine hope and real integrity aren't disproved by other people's collapses.
"Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? "
"'Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arphad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or the kings of Hena and Ivah now?'"
Someone listing all the people who 'lost before you' isn't proof you'll lose too. Judge your own situation on its own merits, not by someone else's scare tactics dressed up as evidence.
"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. "
"Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, read it, then went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it open before him."
When something is frightening you, don't just carry it silently in your head - lay it out plainly, name it exactly as it is, in whatever place helps you think clearly and find courage. Honesty with yourself about the real threat is the first step past it.
"And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, "
"Then Hezekiah prayed to the LORD."
There's a moment in every crisis where you stop just absorbing bad news and start responding with your own voice, your own choice. Take that moment when it comes - don't let fear keep you passive.
"O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. "
"'LORD of Heaven's Armies, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim - you alone are God over every kingdom on earth. You made the heavens and the earth.'"
Before you ask for help, take a moment to remember how big the good in the world actually is compared to what's frightening you. Perspective itself is often the first form of relief.
"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. "
"'Listen closely, LORD, and hear me; open your eyes and see. Hear everything Sennacherib has said to insult the living God.'"
When you pray or reach out for help, it's alright to ask simply to be heard and seen, not just to get a solution handed to you. Being truly listened to is itself a kind of relief.
"Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, "
"'It's true, LORD - the Assyrian kings really have destroyed all those nations and their lands.'"
You don't have to pretend a hard truth isn't true in order to keep hope alive. Face the facts honestly first - real courage grows out of clear sight, not denial.
"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. "
"'And they threw the other nations' gods into the fire and destroyed them - but that's no surprise, because those weren't real gods at all, just objects carved from wood and stone by human hands.'"
Ask yourself honestly what you're actually trusting in - is it something living and real, like love, integrity and genuine connection, or something you've built up and now serve, like status or approval, that could be smashed tomorrow? Put your weight on what can actually hold you.
"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. "
"'So now, LORD our God, save us from his power, so that every kingdom on earth will know that you alone are the LORD.'"
When you ask for help, it's fine to want more than just your own relief - hope that your rescue, your recovery, your turning point might mean something for others watching too. Your story isn't only about you.
"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: "
"Then Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about Sennacherib king of Assyria.'"
Notice that even before things visibly change, being heard is real and matters. Don't wait for the outcome to believe your voice landed somewhere - it did, the moment you spoke honestly.
"This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. "
"Here is what the LORD has decided about him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and laughs you to scorn; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head at you as you flee."
Don't let a bully's noise convince you that you're the weak one in the story. Sometimes the bravest response to intimidation is simply refusing to be afraid of it, meeting it with quiet, unshaken confidence.
"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. "
"'Who exactly have you been insulting and mocking? Who have you raised your voice against and looked down on with such arrogance? The Holy One of Israel!'"
Watch how far your pride or contempt for others actually reaches - it's often bigger and more costly than you think. Arrogance rarely stays contained to the target you meant it for.
"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 thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. "
"'Through your officers you've insulted the Lord, boasting: With my many chariots I've climbed to the mountain heights, to the far reaches of Lebanon; I'll cut down its tallest cedars and finest cypress trees; I'll reach its farthest heights, its richest forest.'"
Watch for that voice in yourself that wants to conquer and control everything around you to prove your own importance. Real strength doesn't need to dominate every mountain - it can rest in knowing your actual place in the world.
"I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. "
"'I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands; with the soles of my feet I dried up all of Egypt's rivers.'"
Be wary of anyone - including yourself - who starts believing their own hype so completely that even nature seems to bend to them. Staying grounded protects you from a fall that arrogance always eventually invites.
"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. "
"'Haven't you heard? I planned this long ago; I designed it in ancient times, and now I'm carrying it out - that you would turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.'"
Sometimes the people who look most in control of events understand the least about the bigger picture they're actually part of. Don't measure your own worth or fear by how powerful someone else seems - there's always more going on than what's visible.
"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. "
"'That's why the people there had so little strength - they were terrified and humiliated, as fragile as grass in a field, like green plants, like grass on a rooftop scorched before it can grow.'"
Recognise how fragile outward strength and security often really are - for others and for you. That's not a reason for despair, but for holding your own achievements with a gentler, less anxious grip.
"But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. "
"'But I know everything about you - where you stay, when you go out, when you come in, and how furious you are with me.'"
Nothing you do - your anger, your pride, your private moments - goes unseen by the deeper order of things, and that's actually reassuring, not just frightening: it means nothing you suffer at another's hands is happening unnoticed either.
"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. "
"'Because your rage against me and your arrogant boasting have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will lead you back the way you came.'"
However unstoppable your anger or ambition feels right now, it isn't actually limitless - there's always a point where reality pulls back on the reins. Better to choose humility yourself than have circumstances force it on you.
"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. "
"'Here is your proof: this year you'll eat what grows wild on its own, next year what grows from that; but by the third year, you'll be sowing and reaping and planting vineyards and eating their fruit again.'"
Recovery from hard times rarely arrives all at once - it usually looks like small, ordinary steps returning to normal, one season at a time. Be patient with your own slow rebuilding; it's still real progress even when it isn't dramatic.
"And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: "
"'And the survivors left in Judah will take root again, growing downward, and bear fruit upward.'"
Before you can bear real fruit in your life - real achievements, real relationships - you need roots: stability, honesty with yourself, patience. Don't chase the fruit before you've let the roots go down.
"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. "
"'Because a surviving group will come out of Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The LORD of Heaven's Armies is passionately committed to making this happen.'"
When you're too weak to save yourself, know that real, fierce care from someone or something beyond your own strength can still be working for your good. You don't have to carry every outcome by sheer willpower alone.
"Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. "
"So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: he will not enter this city, or shoot a single arrow at it, or bring shields against it, or build a siege ramp to attack it."
Real hope isn't vague wishful thinking - it can be specific and grounded, something you can actually watch play out. Let your hope be honest and concrete enough to be tested, not just a comforting feeling.
"By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. "
"'He will go back exactly the way he came, and he will not enter this city,' declares the LORD."
Sometimes I have to tell you something more than once before it really lands - that's not because it wasn't true the first time, but because you needed to hear it again to actually believe it. Let reassurance sink in.
"For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. "
"'I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"
You don't have to earn every good thing that happens to you through perfect behaviour - sometimes you're carried by commitments and love that existed before you and don't depend on you being flawless. Let that take some pressure off you.
"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. "
"Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp; when people woke the next morning, they were all dead."
What feels like an endless, overwhelming threat can end far more suddenly than you expect. Don't measure how long your hardship will last by how big it currently feels - things can turn faster than seems possible.
"So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and at Nineveh. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and went back home to Nineveh."
Notice how threats that once seemed all-consuming can just quietly fade away, and life moves on. Don't give more weight to a fear in memory than it deserves once it's actually passed.
"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 Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. "
"One day, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his own sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword and escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon became king in his place."
Be careful what you build your identity and power on - even the people closest to you can become the ones who bring it down if it's built on domination rather than real relationship and integrity. Choose to build your life on love and honesty instead.