14. Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers, read them, and went to the Lord’s temple. He spread them out in front of the Lord
15. and prayed to the Lord, “Lord of Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth.
16. Turn your ear toward me, Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib sent to defy the living God.
17. It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have leveled nations.
18. They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them.
19. Now, Lord our God, rescue us from Assyria’s control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are the Lord God.”
20. Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you.
21. This is the message that the Lord speaks to him,‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you.My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.
22. Whom are you defying and slandering?Against whom are you shouting?Who are you looking at so arrogantly?It is the Holy One of Israel!
23. Through your servants you defy the Lord and say,“With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains,up the slopes of Lebanon.I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses.I’ll come to its most distant bordersand its most fertile forests.