Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe.

The XIX. Chapter.

WHan Ezechias y^e kynge herde this, [ A] he rente his clothes,* 1.1 & put on a sack¦cloth, & wente in to y^e house of the LORDE, & sent Eliachim the stewarde & Sob¦na the Scrybe with the Eldest prestes, clo∣thed in sackcloth, vnto the prophet Esay y^e sonne of Amos, & they saide vnto him: Thus sayeth Ezechias: This is a daye of trouble, & of defiaunce & blasphemy. The childrē are come to the byrth, & there is no strength to be delyuered of them. Yf happly the LORDE thy God wil heare all the wordes of y^e che∣fe butler, whom his lorde the kynge of Assi∣ria hath sent, to blasphemie y^e lyuynge God, & to defye him with soch wordes as the LOR¦DE thy God hath herde, therfore lifte thou vp thy prayer for the remnaunt, which are yet lefte behynde.

And whā kynge Ezechias seruauntes ca¦me [ B] to Esay, Esay sayde vnto them: Speake thus vnto youre lorde: Thus sayeth the LOR¦DE: Feare not thou the wordes y^t thou hast herde, wherwith the kynge of Assirias ser∣uauntes haue blasphemed me. Beholde, I wil put him in another mynde, so y^t he shall heare tydinges, & go agayne in to his awne countre, * 1.2 and in his awne londe wil I cause him to fall thorow the swerde.

And whan y^e chefe butlar came agayne, he founde the kynge of Assiria fightinge a∣gaynst Libna: for he had herde that he was departed from Lachis. And he herde of Ta¦racha the kynge of the Morians: Beholde, he is gone forth to fighte with the. Then tur¦ned he back, & sent messaungers to Ezechias, & caused to saye vnto him: Let not thy God disceaue the, on whom thou trustest & sayest: Ierusalem shal not be geuē in to the hāde of the kynge of Assiria. Beholde, thou hast her¦de what the kynges of Assiria haue done vn¦to all londes, & how they dāned them, & shalt thou be delyuered? Haue y^e goddes of y^e Hei¦then delyuered thē, whom my father destro∣yed, as Gosan, Haran, Reseph, & the childrē of Eden which were at Thalassar? Where is y^e kynge of Hemath, y^e kynge of Arphad, & y^e kinge of y^e cite Sepharuaim, Hena & Iua?

And whan Ezechias had receaued the let¦ters [ C] of the messaungers and had red them, he wente vp vnto the house of the LORDE, and layed them abrode before the LORDE, & made his prayer before the LORDE, and say∣de: O LORDE God of Israel, thou that syt∣test vpō the Cherubins, thou onely art God

amonge all y^e kyngdomes of the earth, thou hast made heauen and earth. Enclyne thine eare O LORDE, and heare: open thine eyes, and beholde, and heare the wordes of Sen¦nacherib, which hath sent hither to blasphe∣me the lyuynge God. It is true (O LORDE) that the kynges of Assiria haue destroyed the Heythen and their londe with the swer∣de, and haue cast their goddes in the fyre: for they were not Goddes, but y^e worke of mēs hondes, wodd and stone, therfore haue they destroyed them. But now O LORDE helpe thou vs out of his hande, that all the kyng¦domes vpon earth maye knowe, that thou LORDE art God alone.

[ D] Then sent Esay the sonne of Amos vnto Ezechias, sayenge: Thus sayeth the LORDE God of Israel: Where as thou hast made thy prayer vnto me concernynge Sennache¦rib y^e kynge of Assiria, I haue herde it. This is it that the LORDE hath spoken agaynst him: He hath despysed y^e and mocked the O virgin thou doughter Sion: he hath shakē his heade at the O doughter Ierusalem. * 1.3 Whom hast thou despysed & blasphemed? Ouer whom hast thou lifte vp thy voyce? Euē agaynst y^e holy one in Israel hast thou lifte vp thine eyes: thou hast blasphemed y^e LORDE by thy messaungers, and sayde: Tho¦row the multitude of my charettes haue I gone vp to the toppes of the mountaynes, vpon the sydes of Libanus. I haue hewen downe his hye Ceders and his chosen Pyne trees, and am come to the vttemost habita∣cion of the wod of Carmel that belongeth vnto it. I haue dygged and dronke vp the straunge waters, and with y^e soles of my fe∣te haue I dryed vp the See.

[ E] But hast thou not herde how that I ha∣ue done this longe agoo, and haue prepared it from the begynnynge? Now haue I cau∣sed it for to come, that contencious stronge cities mighte fall in to a waist heape of sto∣nes, & they that dwell therin, shal be faynte, and fearfull and a shamed, * 1.4 and shal be as the grasse vpon the felde, and as y^e grene her∣be and hay vpon the house toppes, that wy∣thereth afore it be growne vp. I knowe thy habitacion, thy out and ingoynge, and that thou ragest agaynst me. For so moch then as thou ragest agaynst me, and seynge thy pre∣sumpcion is come vp to myne eares, therfo¦re wyll I put a rynge in thy nose, and a brydle bytt in thy lippes, and wyll bryn∣ge the agayne, euen the same waye thou camest.

[ F] And let this be a token vnto the O Eze∣chias. In this yeare eate y^t which is fallen▪ in the seconde yeare soch as groweth of it selfe: In y^e thirde yeare sowe and reape, and plante vynyardes, and eate the frute therof. And the doughter Iuda which is escaped & remayneth, shall from hence forth take rote beneth, and beare frute aboue. For the rem∣naunt shal go forth from Ierusalem, & they y^t are escaped, shall go out fro mount Sion. The gelousy of the LORDE Zebaoth shall brynge this to passe.

Therfore thus sayeth the LORDE con∣cernynge y^e kynge of the Assyrians: He shall not come in to this cite, and shall shute no a∣rowe therin, nether shal there come eny shyl∣de before it, nether shall he dygge eny backe aboute it, but shal go agayne the waye that he came, and shall not come in to this cite, sayeth the LORDE: and I wyll defende this cite, to helpe it for myne awne sake, and for my seruaunt Dauids sake.

And in the same nighte wente the angell [ G] of the LORDE, and smote in the hoost of the Assyrians, an hundreth and fyue and foure score thousande men. And whan they gatt them vp in the mornynge, beholde, all laye full of deed coarses. * 1.5 So Sennacherib the kinge of Assyria brake vp, and departed, and returned, and abode at Niniue. And as he worshipped in y^e house of Nesrach his god, his awne sonnes Adramalech and Sarazer smote him with the swerde, and fled in to y^e londe of Ararat. And Asarhadon his sonne was kynge in his steade.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.2

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.3

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. b 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••5. d 〈◊〉〈◊〉 9. a
• * 1.4

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. ••6. a
• * 1.5

  Tobi. 1. d