and answered him not a word: for the king's command22 ment was, faying, Anfwer him not. Then came Eliakim, the fon of Hilkiah, that [was] over the household, and Shebna the fcribe, and Joah, the fon of Afaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with [their] clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabfhakeh.

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CHAP. XXXVII. And it came to pafs, when king Hezekiah heard [it,] that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with fackcloth, and went into the house 2 of the LORD. And he fent Eliakim, who, [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with fackcloth, unto Ifaiah the pro3 phet the son of Amoz. And they faid unto him, Thus faith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blafphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Affyria his master hath fent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore 5 lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left. So 6 the fervants of king Hezekiah came to Ifaiah. And Ifaiah faid unto them, Thus fhall ye fay unto your mafter, Thus faith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the fervants of 7 the king of Affyria have blafphemed me. Behold, I will fend a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will caufe him to fall by the fword in his own land.

8

So Rabíhakeh returned, and found the king of Affyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he 9 was departed from Lachish. And he heard fay concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard [it,] he 10 fent meffengers to Hezekiah, faying, Thus fhall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, faying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trufteft, deceive thee, faying, Jerufalem shall not be given into the hand of the king 11 of Affyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Affyria have done to all lands by destroying them utter

ly:

12 ly; and fhalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have deftroyed, [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the 13 children of Eden which [were] in Telaffar? Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the 14 king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the meffengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the houfe of the LORD, and fpread it before the LORD. 15 16 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, faying, O LORD of hofts, God of Ifrael, that dwelleft [between] the cherubims, thou [art] the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou haft made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and fee: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath fent to reproach the 18 living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Affyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, 19 And have caft their gods into the fire: for they [were]

no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and ftone: 20 therefore they have deftroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, fave us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD, [even] thou only.

21

Then Ifaiah the fon of Amoz fent unto Hezekiah, faying, Thus faith the LORD God of Ifrael, Whereas thou haft prayed to me against Sennacherib king of 22 Affyria: This [is] the word which the LORD hath fpoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath defpifed thee, [and] laughed thee to fcorn; the daughter of Jerufalem hath fhaken her head at thee. 23 Whom haft thou reproached and blafphemed; and against whom haft thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] against the Holy One 24 of Ifrael. By thy fervants haft thou reproached the Lord, and haft faid, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the fides 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 foreft of

25 his Carmel. I have digged, and drunk water; and with the fole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of 26 the befieged places. Haft thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of antient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pafs, that thou should be to lay wafte defenced cities [into] 27 ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants [were] of fmall power, they were difmayed and confounded: they were [as] the grafs of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grafs on the house tops, and [as corn] 28 blafted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage 29 against me. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nofe, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 30 And this [fhall be] a fign unto thee, Ye fhall eat [this] year fuch as groweth of itself; and the fecond year that which springeth of the fame: and in the third year fow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit 31 thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah fhall again take root downward, and bear 32 fruit upward: For out of Jerufalem fhall go forth a

remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the33 zeal of the LORD of hosts fhall do this. Therefore thus faith the LORD concerning the king of Affyria, He fhall not come into this city, nor fhoot an arrow there, nor come before it with fhields, nor caft a bank against 34 it. By the way that he came, by the fame fhall he return, and fhall not come into this city, faith the LORD. 35 For I will defend this city to fave it, for mine own fake, and for my fervant David's fake.

36

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and fmote in the camp of the Affyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arofe early in the 37 morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpfes. So

Sennacherib king of Affyria departed, and went and 38 returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass,

as he was worshipping in the house of Nifroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his fons fmote him

with the fword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Efar-haddon his fon reigned in his stead.

The first part of this chapter gives an account of Hezekiah's dangerous fickness and miraculous recovery; the latter part is a tender and beautiful fong of thanksgiving, in which this pious king breathed out the fentiments of a grateful heart when his life was as it were restored.

N thofe days was Hezekiah fick unto death, that is,

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of fome distemper, which in the common course of nature would prove mortal. And Ifaiah the prophet the fon of Amoz came unto him, and faid unto him, Thus faith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt 2 die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to3 ward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And faid, Remember, now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy fight. And Hezekiah wept fore, from the apprehenfion that he fhould leave his kingdom in diftrefs, and without an heir. 4 Then came the word of the LORD to Ifaiah, faying, 5 Go and fay to Hezekiah, Thus faith the LORD, the God of David thy father, whofe family feemed to be in danger of extinction, I have heard thy prayer, I have feen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen 6 years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Affyria: and I will defend this 7 city. And this [fhall be] a fign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath 8 spoken; Behold, I will bring again the thadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the fun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the fun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

9 The

This fickness happened in the space between Sennacherib's invafion and the deftruction of his army.

* Probably an inflection of the rays of the fun, which continued for fome time.

9

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he' had been fick, and was recovered of his fickness; or, a 10 fong of thanksgiving for his deliverance: I faid in the cutting off of my days, I fhall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the refidue of my years; being but about thirty nine years old, I might naturally ex11 pect a longer life. I faid, I fhall not fee the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living, in his house and ordinances; that is, no more join in or fupport his worShip: I fhall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world; I fall fee my fubjects and friends no more; I Shall have no more opportunities of doing good to the publick or 12 myself; a fentiment full of piety and benevolence. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a fhepherd's tent; a weak, frail building, that is easily taken down or removed from place to place: I have cut off like a weaver my life; have given up all my schemes and prospects: he will cut me off with pining fickness: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me; I thought this 13 would be the cafe every morning and evening. I reckoned till morning, [that,] as a lion, fo will he break all

my

bones: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me; I thought the violence of my pain would destroy 14 me before morning, like a lion breaking my bones. Like a crane [or] a fwallow, fo did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove; my voice was weak and broken, fo that I could only figh and bemoan myfelf: mine eyes fail [with looking] upward; or rather, mine eyes are fo weak that I cannot look up: O LORD, I am oppreffed; undertake for me; I am finking under this heavy affliction; O Lord, appear for me, 15 before death feizes upon me. What fhall I fay? an expreffion of God's great goodness, and of his own thankfulness; how shall I find words to express my gratitude? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done [it;] he promifed health, and it immediately came: I fhall go foftly all my years in the bitterness of my foul; Ifball all my days remember the bitterness of my foul; or it may refer to walk16 ing humbly and circumfpely before God after it. O LORD, by thefe [things,] thy power and goodness, [men] live, and I in particular, and in all these [things is] the life of my VOL. V. fpirit:

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