Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness
2Ki 20:1–11; 2Ch 32:24–26
1#2Sa 17:23; 2Ch 32:24In those days Hezekiah was mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3#1Ch 29:19; Ne 13:14and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying: 5#2Ki 18:2“Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6#Isa 37:35I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
7#Jdg 6:37–39; Isa 37:30“This shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8#Jos 10:12–14I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow returned ten steps on the sundial by which it had gone down.
9This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10#2Co 1:9; Ps 102:24 I said: In the middle of my days,
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.
11#Ps 27:13 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
even the Lord, in the land of the living;
I shall see man no more
with the inhabitants of the world.
12#Ps 73:14; 2Co 5:1 My dwelling is pulled up
and removed from me as a shepherd’s tent;
I rolled up my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the loom;
from day even to night You make an end of me.
13#Ps 51:8; Da 6:24 I composed my soul until morning,
like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
from day even to night You make an end of me.
14#Isa 59:11; Job 30:29 Like a crane or a swallow, so I twitter;
I mourn as a dove;
my eyes look wistfully upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15#1Ki 21:27; Job 7:11 What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it.
I shall wander about all my years
in the bitterness of my soul.
16#Dt 8:3 O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit;
O restore me to health
and make me live!
17#Ps 30:3; Isa 43:25 Surely it was for my own peace
that I had great bitterness;
but You have kept my soul
from the pit of corruption,
for You have cast all my sins
behind Your back.
18#Ecc 9:10; Ps 6:5 For Sheol cannot thank You,
death cannot praise You;
those who go down into the pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19#Dt 6:7; 4:9 It is the living who give thanks to You,
as I do this day;
a father explains to his sons
about Your faithfulness.
20The Lord shall surely save me;
therefore, we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the house of the Lord.
21For Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and lay it on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
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Isaiah 38: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah Gets Sick and Almost Dies
(2 Kings 20.1-11; 2 Chronicles 32.24-26)
1About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. So I went in and told him, “The Lord says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, and so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”
2Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed, 3“Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, Lord. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried hard.
4Then the Lord sent me 5with this message for Hezekiah:
I am the Lord God, who was worshiped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will let you live 15 more years, 6while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria.
7Now I will prove to you that I will keep my promise. 8Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps.
Then the shadow went back ten steps.#38.8 steps: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 8.
King Hezekiah's Song of Praise
9This is what Hezekiah wrote after he got well:
10I thought I would die
during my best years
and stay as a prisoner forever
in the world of the dead.
11I thought I would never again
see you, my Lord,
or any of the people
who live on this earth.
12My life was taken from me
like the tent that a shepherd
pulls up and moves.
You cut me off like thread
from a weaver's loom;
you make a wreck of me
day and night.
13Until morning came, I thought
you would crush my bones
just like a hungry lion;
both night and day
you make a wreck of me.#38.13 of me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
14I cry like a swallow;
I mourn like a dove.
My eyes are red
from looking to you, Lord.
I am in terrible trouble.
Please come and help me.#38.14 help me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 14.
15There's nothing I can say
in answer to you,
since you are the one
who has done this to me.#38.15 There's … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
My life has turned sour;
I will limp until I die.
16Your words and your deeds
bring life to everyone,
including me.#38.16 Your … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Please make me healthy
and strong again.
17It was for my own good
that I had such hard times.
But your love protected me
from doom in the deep pit,#38.17 deep pit: The world of the dead, as in verse 18.
and you turned your eyes
away from my sins.
18 #
Si 17.27; Ba 2.17. No one in the world of the dead
can thank you or praise you;
none of those in the deep pit
can hope for you
to show them
how faithful you are.
19Only the living can thank you,
as I am doing today.
Each generation tells the next
about your faithfulness.#38.19 about your faithfulness: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
20You, Lord, will save me,
and every day that we live
we will sing in your temple
to the music
of stringed instruments.
Isaiah's Advice to Hezekiah
21I had told King Hezekiah's servants to put some mashed figs on the king's open sore, and he would get well. 22Then Hezekiah asked for proof that he would again worship in the Lord's temple.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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