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2 Kings 19:23-24

By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.”

World English Bible · Public Domain
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2 Kings 19:23-24 sits inside this longer paragraph.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you. This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.” Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up. But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.

    I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.”

  • KJV King James Version

    By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.

    I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    By the messengers thou hast taunted the Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I have cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice cypresses thereof; and I have entered into his farthest lodge, the forest of his fruitful field.

    I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.

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Cross-references (16)

  • 2 Kings 18:17 (v23) The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and…
  • Psalms 20:7 (v23) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.
  • Isaiah 10:18 (v23) He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.
  • Exodus 15:9 (v24) The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My…
  • 2 Samuel 17:13 (v24) Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t…
Show all 16 cross-references
  • 1 Kings 20:10 (v24) Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the…
  • 2 Kings 18:23 (v23) Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part…
  • 2 Kings 18:33-34 (v23) Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of…
  • 2 Chronicles 26:10 (v23) He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain. He had…
  • 2 Chronicles 32:17 (v23) He also wrote letters insulting Yahweh, the God of Israel, and speaking against him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands,…
  • Isaiah 10:7-11 (v23) However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations. For he…
  • Isaiah 10:14 (v23) My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There…
  • Isaiah 19:6 (v24) The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away.
  • Isaiah 37:24-25 (v23) By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the…
  • Ezekiel 31:3-18 (v23) Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, of high stature; and its top was among…
  • Daniel 4:30 (v24) The king spoke and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the…

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (14 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv23–24 Or, pleasant country.

Or, pleasant country.

Meaning, Jerusalem, which Isaiah calleth the height of his borders, to wit, of Judah, Isa. 37:24.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv23–24 2Ki 19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv23–24 By thy messengers; so thou hast advanced thy very…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv23–24 Mountains - I have brought up my very chariots…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv23–24 Verse 23. The tall cedar trees - the choice…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv23–24 2Ki 19:23. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv23–24 And hast said - Isaiah clothes in words the…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv23–24 Carmel. A pleasant fruitful hill in the forest. These…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv23–24 23. By thy messengers — Hebrew, by the hand…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv23–24 23. By thy messengers] Rab-shakeh and his companions.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv23–24 (23) The multitude.—The reading of the Hebrew margin, of…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv23–24 By thy messengers literally, by the hand of thy…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v23 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v23 19:23-24 highest mountains . . . of Lebanon: In…
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