The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

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; ¹⁷until 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. ¹⁸Beware lest 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? ¹⁹Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'

      ²¹But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying: 'Answer him not.' ²²Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

      37And 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. ²And 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. ³And they said unto him: 'Thus saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. ⁴It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord thy God hath heard; wherefore make prayer for the remnant that is left.' ⁵So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶And Isaiah said unto them: 'Thus shall ye say to 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. ⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.'

      ⁸So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. ⁹And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia: 'He is come out to fight against 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 beguile thee, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? ¹²Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'

      ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying: ¹⁶'O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. ¹⁷Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to taunt the living God. ¹⁸Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land, ¹⁹and 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. ²⁰Now 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.'

      ²¹Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying: 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²²this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him:

      The virgin daughter of ZionHath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn;The daughter of JerusalemHath shaken her head at thee.²³Whom hast thou taunted and blasphemed?And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?Yea, thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high,Even against the Holy One of Israel!²⁴By thy servants hast thou taunted the Lord,And hast said: With the multitude of my chariotsAm I come up to the height of the mountains,To the innermost parts of Lebanon;And I have cut down the tall cedars thereof,And the choice cypress-trees thereof;And I have entered into his farthest height,The forest of his fruitful field.²⁵I have digged and drunk water,And with the sole of my feet have I dried upAll the rivers of Egypt.²⁶Hast thou not heard?Long ago I made it,In ancient times I fashioned it;Now have I brought it to pass,Yea, it is done; that fortified citiesShould be laid waste into ruinous heaps.²⁷Therefore 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 a field of corn before it is grown up. ²⁸But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in,And thy raging against Me.²⁹Because of thy raging against Me,And for that thine uproar 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 wayBy which thou camest.

      ³⁰And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in 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. ³¹And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. ³²For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. ³³Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it. ³⁴By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the Lord. ³⁵For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.'

      ³⁶And the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁷So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went, and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. ³⁸And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

      38In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the Lord: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.' ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, ³and said: 'Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight.' And Hezekiah wept sore. ⁴Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying: ⁵'Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. ⁶And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city. ⁷And this shall be the sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken: ⁸behold, I will cause the shadow of the dial, which is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, to return backward ten degrees.' So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

       ⁹The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.

      ¹⁰I said: In the noontide of my days I shall go,Even to the gates of the nether-world;I am deprived of the residue of my years.¹¹I said: I shall not see the Lord,Even the Lord in the land of the living;I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.¹²My habitation is plucked up and carried away from meAs a shepherd's tent;I have rolled up like a weaver my life;He will cut me off from the thrum;From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.¹³The more I make myself like unto a lion until morning,The more it breaketh all my bones;From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.¹⁴Like