And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

Quæ cum audisset Ezechias rex, scidit vestimenta sua, et opertus est sacco, ingressusque est domum Domini.

No sooner had king Ezechias heard it, than he tore his garments open, and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloths, to Isaias the prophet the son of Amos,

Et misit Eliacim præpositum domus, et Sobnam scribam, et senes de sacerdotibus, opertos saccis, ad Isaiam prophetam filium Amos.

Meanwhile, he sent word to the prophet Isaias, son of Amos. Eliacim, the controller of the household, and Sobna, the secretary, and some of the older priests, went on this errand.

And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength.

Qui dixerunt: Hæc dicit Ezechias: Dies tribulationis, et increpationis, et blasphemiæ dies iste: venerunt filii usque ad partum, et vires non habet parturiens.

Here is a message for thee, they said, from Ezechias. Troublous times have come upon us, times to make us mend our ways, or else blaspheme God. What remedy, when children come to the birth, and the mother has no strength to bear them?

It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord thy God hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that are found.

Si forte audiat Dominus Deus tuus universa verba Rabsacis, quem misit rex Assyriorum dominus suus ut exprobraret Deum viventem et argueret verbis, quæ audivit Dominus Deus tuus: et fac orationem pro reliquiis quæ repertæ sunt.

Unless indeed the Lord should take cognizance of what Rabsaces has been saying, Rabsaces, who was sent here by his master, the king of Assyria, to blaspheme the living God. Surely the Lord thy God has listened to the reproaches he uttered. Raise thy voice, then, in prayer for the poor remnant that is left.

So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.

Venerunt ergo servi regis Ezechiæ ad Isaiam.

Thus visited by the servants of Ezechias,

And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.

Dixitque eis Isaias: Hæc dicetis domino vestro: Hæc dicit Dominus: Noli timere a facie sermonum quos audisti, quibus blasphemaverunt pueri regis Assyriorum me.

Isaias answered, Give your master this message. Do not be dismayed, the Lord says, at hearing the blasphemies which the courtiers of the Assyrian king have uttered against me.

Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own country.

Ecce ego immittam ei spiritum, et audiet nuntium, et revertetur in terram suam, et dejiciam eum gladio in terra sua.

See if I do not put him in such a mind, see if I do not make him hear such news, as will send him back to his own country. And when he reaches his own country, I will give the word, and the sword shall make an end of him.

And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.

Reversus est ergo Rabsaces, et invenit regem Assyriorum expugnantem Lobnam: audierat enim quod recessisset de Lachis.

And now Rabsaces went back to find the king of the Assyrians before Lobna, hearing that he had raised the siege of Lachis.

And when he heard of Tharaca king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:

Cumque audisset de Tharaca rege Æthiopiæ, dicentes: Ecce egressus est ut pugnet adversum te: et iret contra eum, misit nuntios ad Ezechiam, dicens:

News had come that Taracha, king of the Ethopians, was on the way to do battle with him. And the king, as he went out to meet Taracha, despatched messengers to Ezechias;

Thus shall you say to Ezechias king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.

Hæc dicite Ezechiæ regi Juda: Non te seducat Deus tuus in quo habes fiduciam, neque dicas: Non tradetur Jerusalem in manus regis Assyriorum.

Give this warning, he said, to Ezechias, king of Juda, Do not let the God in whom thou puttest such confidence deceive thee with false hopes; do not think Jerusalem will never be allowed to fall into the hands of the Assyrian king.

Behold thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?

Tu enim ipse audisti quæ fecerunt reges Assyriorum universis terris, quomodo vastaverunt eas: num ergo solus poteris liberari?

What, hast thou not heard what the kings of Assyria have done to the nations everywhere, destroying them utterly? And what hope hast thou of deliverance?

Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the children of Eden that were in Thelassar?

Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium singulos quos vastaverunt patres mei, Gozan videlicet, et Haran, et Reseph, et filios Eden qui erant in Thelassar?

What saving power had the gods of those old peoples my fathers overthrew, Gozam, and Haram, and Repheth, and the race of Eden who lived in Thalassar?

Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana and of Ava?

ubi est rex Emath, et rex Arphad, et rex civitatis Sepharvaim, Ana, et Ava?

Where are they, the kings of Emath, and Arphad, the kings who governed the city of Sepharvaim, and Ana, and Ava?

And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord,

Itaque cum accepisset Ezechias litteras de manu nuntiorum, et legisset eas, ascendit in domum Domini, et expandit eas coram Domino,

These despatches were handed by the messengers to Ezechias, and when he had read them, he went up into the house of the Lord, and held them out open in the Lord’s presence.

And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sitteth upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:

et oravit in conspectu ejus, dicens: Domine Deus Israël, qui sedes super cherubim, tu es Deus solus regum omnium terræ: tu fecisti cælum et terram.

And this was the prayer which Ezechias made to him, Lord God of Israel, who hast thy throne above the cherubim, thou alone art God over all the kingdoms of the world, heaven and earth are of thy fashioning.

Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God.

Inclina aurem tuam, et audi: aperi, Domine, oculos tuos, et vide: audi omnia verba Sennacherib, qui misit ut exprobraret nobis Deum viventem.

Give ear, and listen; open thy eyes, Lord, and see; do not let Sennacherib’s words go unheard, these blasphemies he has uttered against the living God.

Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all.

Vere, Domine, dissipaverunt reges Assyriorum gentes, et terras omnium.

It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have brought ruin on whole nations, and the lands they lived in,

And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the works of men’s hands of wood and stone, and they destroyed them.

Et miserunt deos eorum in ignem: non enim erant dii, sed opera manuum hominum, ex ligno et lapide: et perdiderunt eos.

and thrown their gods into the fire; but these were in truth no gods; men had made them, of wood or stone, and men could break them.

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 the only God.

Nunc igitur Domine Deus noster, salvos nos fac de manu ejus, ut sciant omnia regna terræ quia tu es Dominus Deus solus.

Now it is for thee, O Lord our God, to rescue us from the invader, and shew all the kingdoms of the world that there is no other Lord, no other God, save thee.

And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians.

Misit autem Isaias filius Amos ad Ezechiam, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Quæ deprecatus es me super Sennacherib rege Assyriorum, audivi.

Then Isaias, son of Amos, sent word to Ezechias, A message to thee from the Lord, the God of Israel, granting the prayer thou hast made to him about Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.

This is the word, that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back.

Iste est sermo, quem locutus est Dominus de eo: Sprevit te, et subsannavit te, virgo filia Sion: post tergum tuum caput movit, filia Jerusalem.

This is what the Lord has to say of him: See how she mocks thee, flouts thee, Sion, the virgin city! Jerusalem, proud maiden, follows thee with her eyes and tosses her head in scorn.

Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.

Cui exprobrasti, et quem blasphemasti? contra quem exaltasti vocem tuam, et elevasti in excelsum oculos tuos? Contra Sanctum Israël.

So thou wouldst hurl insults, and blaspheme, and talk boastfully, and brave it out with disdainful looks, against whom? Against the Holy One of Israel.

By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.

Per manum servorum tuorum exprobrasti Domino, et dixisti: In multitudine curruum meorum ascendi excelsa montium in summitate Libani, et succidi sublimes cedros ejus, et electas abietes illius. Et ingressus sum usque ad terminos ejus, et saltum Carmeli ejus

In thy name, these servants of thine have hurled insults at the Lord. It was thy dream that thou hadst scaled, with those many chariots of thine, the slopes of Lebanon; thou hadst cut down its tall cedars, its noble fir-trees, till thou couldst reach the very summit of its ascent, the garden its woods enclosed.

I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters.

ego succidi. Et bibi aquas alienas, et siccavi vestigiis pedum meorum omnes aquas clausas.

Thou wouldst dig wells and drink wherever it pleased thee, thou wouldst dry up, in thy march, the banked channels of the Nile.

Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting men should be turned to heaps of ruin:

Numquid non audisti quid ab initio fecerim? ex diebus antiquis plasmavi illud, et nunc adduxi: eruntque in ruinam collium pugnantium civitates munitæ.

What, hast thou not heard how I dealt with this people in time past? This present design, too, is one I have formed long since, and am now carrying out; such a design as brings with it ruin for the mountain fastnesses, the walled cities that fight against thee.

And the inhabitants of them, were weak of hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it came to maturity.

Et qui sedent in eis, humiles manu, contremuerunt et confusi sunt: facti sunt velut fœnum agri, et virens herba tectorum, quæ arefacta est antequam veniret ad maturitatem.

Sure enough, they were overawed and discomfited, the puny garrisons that held them, frail as meadow grass, or the stalks that grow on the house-top, withering before they can ripen.

Thy dwelling and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me.

Habitaculum tuum, et egressum tuum, et introitum tuum, et viam tuam ego præscivi, et furorem tuum contra me.

But I am watching thee where thou dwellest, thy comings and goings and journeyings, thy raving talk against me.

Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way, by which thou camest.

Insanisti in me, et superbia tua ascendit in aures meas: ponam itaque circulum in naribus tuis, et camum in labiis tuis, et reducam te in viam per quam venisti.

Yes, I have listened to the ravings of thy pride against me, and now a ring for thy nose, a twitch of the bridle in thy mouth, and back thou goest by the way thou didst come.

And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

Tibi autem, Ezechia, hoc erit signum: comede hoc anno quæ repereris: in secundo autem anno, quæ sponte nascuntur: porro in tertio anno seminate et metite: plantate vineas, et comedite fructum earum.

Here is a test for thee, Ezechias, of the truth of my prophecy; this year thou must be content with what crops are left thee, and next year the aftergrowth shall be thy food; in the third year you may sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

Et quodcumque reliquum fuerit de domo Juda, mittet radicem deorsum, et faciet fructum sursum.

A remnant of Juda’s race will be saved, and this remnant will strike root deep in earth, bear fruit high in air;

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

De Jerusalem quippe egredientur reliquiæ, et quod salvetur de monte Sion: zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc.

yes, it is from Jerusalem the remnant will come, from mount Sion that we shall win salvation; so tenderly he loves us, the Lord of hosts.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.

Quam ob rem hæc dicit Dominus de rege Assyriorum: Non ingredietur urbem hanc, nec mittet in eam sagittam, nec occupabit eam clypeus, nec circumdabit eam munitio.

This, then, is what the Lord has to tell thee about the king of the Assyrians; he shall never enter this city, or shoot an arrow into it; no shield-protected host shall storm it, no earth-works shall be cast up around it.

By the way that he came, he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.

Per viam qua venit, revertetur: et civitatem hanc non ingredietur, dicit Dominus.

He will go back by the way he came, and never enter into this city, the Lord says;

And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.

Protegamque urbem hanc, et salvabo eam propter me, et propter David servum meum.

I will keep guard over this city and deliver it, for my own honour and for the honour of my servant David.

And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.

Factum est igitur in nocte illa, venit angelus Domini, et percussit in castris Assyriorum centum octoginta quinque millia. Cumque diluculo surrexisset, vidit omnia corpora mortuorum: et recedens abiit,

It was after this that an angel of the Lord went out on his errand, and smote down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp; when morning came, and he saw the corpses of the dead, the king broke up camp and was gone.

And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departing went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.

et reversus est Sennacherib rex Assyriorum, et mansit in Ninive.

So Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, made his way home, nor did he leave Nineve again.

And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Cumque adoraret in templo Nesroch deum suum, Adramelech et Sarasar filii ejus percusserunt eum gladio, fugeruntque in terram Armeniorum: et regnavit Asarhaddon filius ejus pro eo.

And one day, when he was at worship in the temple of his god Nosroch, two sons of his, Adramelech and Sarasar, drew their swords on him, and so escaped into the land of Ararat; and the throne passed to his son Asarhaddon.