Isaiah 37:15-21

37:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 37:16 “O Lord who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! ¹  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ²  and the earth. 37:17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! ³  37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations ⁴  and their lands. 37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ⁵  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ⁶  37:20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” ⁷ 

37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, ⁸ 

[37:16]  ¹ sn Cherubim (singular “cherub”) refers to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.

[37:16]  ² tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[37:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”

[37:19]  ¹ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ² tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[37:20]  ¹ tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”

[37:21]  ¹ tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”