I will climb up to the tops ¹  of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!” ² 

Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’” ¹ 

Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes, firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the Lord, ¹  a permanent reminder that will remain. ² 

Their slain will be left unburied, ¹  their corpses will stink; ²  the hills will soak up their blood. ³ 

Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”

They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ¹  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ² 

The evergreens also rejoice over your demise, ¹  as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing, ²  ‘Since you fell asleep, ³  no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’ ⁴ 

Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: ¹  What is the reason ²  that all of you go up to the rooftops?

Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns; thickets and weeds will grow ¹  in her fortified cities. Jackals will settle there; ostriches will live there. ² 

On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed; you go up there to offer sacrifices.

So look, the sovereign master ¹  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ²  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ³ 

I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹  and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.

There will be a highway leading out of Assyria for the remnant of his people, ¹  just as there was for Israel, when ²  they went up from the land of Egypt.

You said to yourself, ¹  “I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El ²  I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ³ 

They went up to the temple, ¹  the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ²  Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ³  Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off. ⁴ 

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

Mourn ¹  over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses ²  in the city filled with revelry. ³ 

Night and day it will burn; ¹  its smoke will ascend continually. Generation after generation it will be a wasteland and no one will ever pass through it again.

No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it ¹  – they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, ¹  King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.