This is what the Lord says: “Although Assyria is strong and has many people, it will be defeated and brought to an end. Although I have made you suffer, Judah, I will make you suffer no more.
That night the angel of the Lord went out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead bodies.
One day as Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.
“That night I will go through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will also punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
So the Lord God All-Powerful will send a terrible disease upon Assyria’s soldiers. The strength of Assyria will be burned up like a fire burning until everything is gone.
You people who live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will not cry anymore. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. When he hears you, he will help you.
“Assyria will be defeated by a sword, but not the sword of a person; Assyria will be destroyed, but not by a person’s sword. Assyria will run away from the sword of God, but its young men will be caught and made slaves.
Then the angel of the Lord went out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead bodies.
Your God will defend his people. This is what the Lord your God says: “The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine. You drank it and could not walk straight. But I am taking that cup of my anger away from you, and you will never be punished by my anger again.
The Lord will hire Assyria and use it like a razor to punish Judah. It will be as if the Lord is shaving the hair from Judah’s head and legs and removing Judah’s beard.
That water will flow into Judah and pass through it, rising to Judah’s throat. Immanuel, this army will spread its wings like a bird until it covers your whole country.”
“The sons of the king of the North will prepare for war. They will get a large army together that will move through the land very quickly, like a powerful flood. Later, that army will come back and fight all the way to the strong, walled city of the king of the South.
Look, there on the hills, someone is bringing good news! He is announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, people of Judah, and give your promised sacrifices to God. The wicked will not come to attack you again; they have been completely destroyed.