Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ¹ 

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ¹ 

Their roar is like a lion’s; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

Just as birds hover over a nest, ¹  so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²  He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over ³  he will rescue it.

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you!

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? ¹  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ²  from my power? ³ 

Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. ¹  Do you really think you will be rescued? ² 

and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’”

From this day forward I am he; no one can deliver from my power; ¹  I will act, and who can prevent it?”

It ¹  will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of ²  the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender ³  who will rescue them.

Were the nations whom my predecessors ¹  destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? ² 

But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits ¹  and held captive ²  in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ³ 

With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’

He feeds on ashes; ¹  his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ² 

Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat ¹  of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. ² 

When you cry out for help, let your idols ¹  help you! The wind blows them all away, ²  a breeze carries them away. ³  But the one who looks to me for help ⁴  will inherit the land and will have access to ⁵  my holy mountain.”

At that time ¹  those who live on this coast ²  will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? ¹  Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water. ⁵