Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness
1At that time Hezekiah became very sick; he was almost dead. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Make arrangements, because you are not going to live, but die.”
2Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3“Lord, please remember that I have always obeyed you. I have given myself completely to you and have done what you said was right.” Then Hezekiah cried loudly.
4Then the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah: 5“Go to Hezekiah and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. So I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.
7“ ‘The Lord will do what he says. This is the sign from the Lord to show you: 8The sun has made a shadow go down the stairway of Ahaz, but I will make it go back ten steps.’ ” So the shadow made by the sun went back up the ten steps it had gone down.
9After Hezekiah king of Judah got well, he wrote this song:
10I said, “I am in the middle of my life.
Do I have to go through the gates of death?
Will I have the rest of my life taken away from me?”
11I said, “I will not see the Lord
in the land of the living again.
I will not again see the people
who live on the earth.
12Like a shepherd’s tent,
my home has been pulled down and taken from me.
I am finished
like the cloth a weaver rolls up and cuts from the loom.
In one day you brought me to this end.
13All night I cried loudly.
Like a lion, he crushed all my bones.
In one day you brought me to this end.
14I cried like a bird
and moaned like a dove.
My eyes became tired as I looked to the heavens.
Lord, I have troubles. Please help me.”
15What can I say?
The Lord told me what would happen and then made it happen.
I have had these troubles in my soul,
so now I will be humble all my life.
16Lord, because of you, people live.
Because of you, my spirit also lives;
you made me well and let me live.
17It was for my own good
that I had such troubles.
Because you love me very much,
you did not let me die
but threw my sins
far away.
18People in the place of the dead cannot praise you;
those who have died cannot sing praises to you;
those who die don’t trust you
to help them.
19The people who are alive are the ones who praise you.
They praise you as I praise you today.
A father should tell his children
that you provide help.
20The Lord saved me,
so we will play songs on stringed instruments
in the Temple of the Lord
all the days of our lives.
21Then Isaiah said, “Make a paste from figs and put it on Hezekiah’s boil. Then he will get well.” 22Hezekiah then asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign? What will show that I will go up to the Temple of the Lord?”
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Isaiah 38: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah Healed
1In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lord says this, ‘Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’ ” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘For the Lord, the God of David your father says this, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].” ’
7“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (#Some suggest that this stairway was built to serve as a sundial; others think that it was just a stairway whose design happened to function as a kind of sundial. The Hebrew word simply means “ascent,” which can be a stair or a stairway. If it was fully exposed to the sun, the shadow must have been cast by some object, such as a pole. Otherwise, if it was covered, then perhaps there was an opening through which the sun shone and illuminated part of the stairway.sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said, “In mid-life
I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),
I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web].
He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom];
From day to night You bring me to an end.
13I lay down until morning.
Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You bring me to an end.
14Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp;
I coo like a dove.
My eyes look wistfully upward;
O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my security.
15“What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
Restore me to health and let me live!
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;
But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19It is the living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20The Lord is ready to save me;
Therefore we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.”
21Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and rub it [as an ointment] on the inflamed spot, that he may recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
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