Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah Becomes Sick and Is Healed
1In those days Hezekiah became very sick. He knew he was about to die. Isaiah went to see him. Isaiah was the son of Amoz. Isaiah told Hezekiah, “The Lord says, ‘Put everything in order. Make out your will. You are going to die soon. You will not get well again.’ ”
2Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall. He prayed to the Lord. He said, 3“Lord, please remember how faithful I’ve been to you. I’ve lived the way you wanted me to. I’ve served you with all my heart. I’ve done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4A message from the Lord came to Isaiah. The Lord said, 5“Go and speak to Hezekiah. Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of King David, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. I will add 15 years to your life. 6And I will save you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will guard this city.
7“ ‘ “Here is a sign from me. It will show you that I will heal you, just as I promised I would. 8The shadow that was made by the sun has gone down ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz. I will make it go back up those ten steps.” ’ ” So the shadow went back up the ten steps it had gone down.
9Here is a song of praise that was written by Hezekiah, the king of Judah. He wrote it after he was sick and had gotten well again.
10I said, “I’m enjoying the best years of my life.
Must I now go through the gates of death?
Will the rest of my years be taken away from me?”
11I said, “Lord, I’ll never see you again
while I’m still alive.
I’ll never see people anymore.
I’ll never again be with those who live in this world.
12My body is like a shepherd’s tent.
It has been pulled down and carried off.
My life is like a piece of cloth that I’ve rolled up.
You have cut it off from the loom.
In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.
13I waited patiently until sunrise.
But like a lion you broke all my bones.
In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.
14I cried softly like a weak little bird.
I sounded like a dove as I mourned.
My eyes grew tired as I looked up toward heaven.
Lord, my life is in danger. Please come and help me!
15“But what can I say?
You have promised to heal me.
And you yourself have done it.
Once I was proud and bitter.
But now I will live the rest of my life free of pride.
16Lord, people find the will to live because you keep your promises.
And my spirit also finds life in your promises.
You brought me back to health.
You let me live.
17I’m sure it was for my benefit
that I suffered such great pain.
You love me. You kept me
from going down into the pit of death.
You have put all my sins
behind your back.
18People in the grave can’t praise you.
Dead people can’t sing praise to you.
Those who go down to the grave
can’t hope for you to be faithful to them.
19It is those who are alive who praise you.
And that’s what I’m doing today.
Parents tell their children
about how faithful you are.
20“The Lord will save me.
So we will sing and play music on stringed instruments.
We will sing all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s temple.”
21When Hezekiah was sick, Isaiah had said, “Press some figs together. Spread them on a piece of cloth. Apply them to Hezekiah’s boil. Then he’ll get well again.”
22At that time Hezekiah had asked, “What will the sign be to prove I’ll go up to the Lord’s temple?” That’s when the Lord had made the shadow go back ten steps.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 38: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
1In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.#2Kg 20:1–6,9–11; 2Ch 32:24 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order,#2Sm 17:23 for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”#38:1 Lit live
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly,#Gn 17:1; 1Kg 2:4; 3:6; 8:23; 2Kg 18:5–6; Ps 26:3 and have done what pleases you.”#Dt 6:18 And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.#38:5 Lit days, also in v. 10#2Kg 18:2,13 6And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.#Is 31:5; 37:35 7This is the sign to you#Is 37:30 from the Lord that he will do what he has promised: 8I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’”#Jos 10:12–14 So the sun’s shadow#38:8 Lit And the sun went back the ten steps it had descended.
9A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said: In the prime#38:10 Lit quiet of my life#Ps 102:24
I must go to the gates of Sheol;#Ps 107:18
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11I said: I will never see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;#Ps 27:13; 116:9
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.#38:11 Some Hb mss, Tg read of the world
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.#2Co 5:1,4; 2Pt 1:13–14
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;#Jb 7:6; Heb 1:12
he cuts me off from the loom.#Jb 6:9
By nightfall#38:12 Lit From day until night, also in v. 13 you make an end of me.#Jb 4:20; Ps 73:14
13I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.#Is 59:11; Ezk 7:16; Nah 2:7
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.#Jb 17:3; Ps 119:122
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years#1Kg 21:27
because of the bitterness of my soul.#1Sm 1:10; Ezk 27:31; Jb 3:20; 7:11; 10:1
16Lord, by such things people live,#Ps 119:71,75
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health#Ps 39:13
and let me live.#Ps 119:25
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness;#Heb 12:11
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,#Jb 33:18,30; Ps 103:4; 106:23; Ezk 20:17; Jnh 2:6
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.#Is 43:25; Jr 31:34; Mc 7:19
18For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you.#Ps 6:5; 30:9; 88:10–12; 115:17
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.#Dt 6:7; 11:19; Ps 78:5–7
20The Lord is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord.#Ps 23:6; 116:17–19
21Now Isaiah#2Kg 20:7–8 had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers