13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and
it shall be an habitation of dragons, anda court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the
satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place
of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow:
there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her
mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall
possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and
blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall
be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and
the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that areof a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with
vengeance, evenGod witha recompence; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame manleap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the
wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the
habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall begrass with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the
unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall befor those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall
not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor anyravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, thatSennacherib king of Assyria
came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a
great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the
scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of
Assyria, What confidence isthis wherein thou trustest?
5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are butvain words) I havecounsel and strength for war: now on
whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go
into his hand, and pierce it: so isPharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is itnot he, whose high places and whose
altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before
this altar?
8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give
thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants,

and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto
me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants
in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the
ears of the people that areon the wall.
12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these
words? hath henot sent meto the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung,
and drink their own piss with you?
13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye
the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us:
this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreementwith me bya
present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and
drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land
of bread and vineyards.
18 Bewarelest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of
the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19 Where arethe gods of Hamath and Arphad? where arethe gods of Sepharvaim? and have they
delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who are theyamong all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my
hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was,
saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that wasover the household, and Shebna the scribe,
and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with theirclothes rent, and told him the
words of Rabshakeh.
1 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.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who wasover the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the
priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day isa day of trouble, and of rebuke, and
of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there isnot strength to bring forth.
4 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 thyprayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 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.
7 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.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard
that he was departed from Lachish.
9 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,

10 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.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them
utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, asGozan, and
Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which werein Telassar?
13 Where isthe king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivah?
14 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.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest betweenthe cherubims, thou artthe God, even
thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 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.
18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they wereno gods, but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth
may know that thou artthe LORD, eventhou only.
21 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:
22 This isthe word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of
Zion, hath despised thee, andlaughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her
head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thyvoice,
and lifted up thine eyes on high? evenagainst the Holy One of Israel.
24 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, andthe choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of
his border, andthe forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of
the besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago, howI have done it; andof ancient times, that I have formed it?
now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities intoruinous
heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants wereof small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they
were asthe grass of the field, and asthe green herb, asthe grass on the housetops, and as corn
blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 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.
30 And this shall bea sign unto thee, Ye shall eat thisyear 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.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and
bear fruit upward:
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the