Isaiah 37:14

Translations

Modern

So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

Traditional

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.

Literal

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spread it out before the face of YHWH.

Latin

Et tulit Ezechias libros de manu nuntiorum, et legit eos, et ascendit in domum Domini, et expandit eos Ezechias coram Domino:

Original

Hebrew

English

So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

Notes

Isaiah 37:14–20

When Hezekiah received Sennacherib’s boastful threat, he went back to the temple and prayed for help. His prayer was different from Ahaz’s reaction to danger decades earlier (see Isaiah 7).

Isaiah 36:1–39:8

Jerusalem’s rescue from King Sennacherib of Assyria is a main event in Isaiah 1–39. The Lord promised to save his people. He would remain present with Jerusalem (see 7:14). He would also keep a remnant, a small group who would survive (see study note on Isaiah 10:20).

Much of the land became empty and the population greatly reduced. This happened because Judah made a foolish alliance with Assyria (chapters 7–8). Even so, the Lord did not allow total defeat. He preserved his people through Hezekiah, a faithful king.

Hezekiah faced the same kind of test that King Ahaz had faced. It was a test of trust in the Lord. In chapter 36, the Assyrian officer repeats the word trust as he challenges the people. But Hezekiah had learned from the earlier warnings in chapters 13–35. At least at first, he trusted God and passed the test.

This story also appears in 2 Kings 18:13–20:19.

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria Hezekiah Isaiah Fearing People Invasion Salvation in Isaiah Trusting God in Isaiah

Events

Prophecies of Isaiahc. 759 BC

Related verses

Psalm 123:1–4
A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
2 Kings 19:14
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
1 Kings 9:3
And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
Psalm 76:1–3
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song. God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.
Joel 2:17–20
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
2 Chronicles 6:20–42
May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
1 Kings 8:38
…then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
Psalm 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
Psalm 27:5
For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.
Isaiah 37:1
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
1 Kings 8:28–30
Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.
Psalm 74:10
How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

Parallels

2 Kings 19:14–19

People

Hezekiah: A righteous king of Judah

Glossary

Assyria, Assyrians Hezekiah History of Israel Inscriptions Isaiah, Book of Kings, Books of First and Second Micah (Person) Shebna

Topics

Blasphemy: Rabshakeh, in the Siege of Jerusalem Church: House of the Lord Letters: Rabshakeh to Hezekiah Libnah: A City of the Tribe of Judah, Captured by Joshua: Sennacherib Besieged

Isaiah 37:14

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