18. We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate,
19. and burnt up their gods — which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands.
20. Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God.”
21. Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer
22. the Lord had said, “The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and despises you.
23. Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel.
24. You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests.
25. You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the River Nile dry.
26. “Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.
27. The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them.