Isaiah 38
38
1About this time Hezekiah fell very sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your affairs in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.”
2When Hezekiah heard this, he went to pray privately#38:2. “Privately”: literally, “turned his face to the wall.” to the Lord, saying 3“Please remember Lord how I have followed you faithfully with all my heart. I have done what is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.
4Then the Lord sent a message to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and tell Hezekiah, This is what the Lord, the God of your forefather David, says: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. 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.
7This is the sign from the Lord to you that the Lord will do what he promised: 8Look, I will make the shadow made by the sun go back the ten steps that it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz. So the sun went back the ten steps that it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.”
9This is what Hezekiah, king of Judah, wrote after he recovered from his sickness:
10I said to myself, “Do I have to go to my death#38:10. “Death” literally, “gates of Sheol.” just as my life is going well? Why can't I count on the rest of my years?”
11I said, “I will never again see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the living. I won't see anyone else again, none of the inhabitants of this world. 12Like a shepherd's tent, the place where I live#38:12. “The place where I live”: referring to his body. has been pulled up and taken away from me. Like a weaver I have rolled up the cloth of my life and cut it from the loom. Day and night you bring me to an end. 13I lie there patiently until the morning, but I feel like there's a lion breaking every bone in my body. Day and night you bring me to an end. 14I scream like a swift or a songbird,#38:14. “Songbird”: some have suggested “thrush,” but the meaning is uncertain. It was certainly meant to reflect a plaintive, sad cry, and therefore the common translation of “crane” is certainly incorrect. I moan like a dove. My eyes grow dim as I look heavenwards. I'm being attacked, Lord, please come and support me!
15Yet what can I say? He told me what was going to happen, and he himself did it.#38:15. Referring to his illness. I will walk quietly for the rest of my life because of the painful experience I went through. 16Lord, we live by what you say and do, and I find life in all of this. You have given me back my health and allowed me to live. 17It was definitely for my own good I went through this bitter experience. You in your love saved me from the pit of destruction and you have forgiven all my sins. 18Those in the grave cannot praise you, the dead cannot praise you. Those who go down into the pit can no longer hope in your faithfulness. 19It's only the living who can praise you as I'm doing today. Parents explain to their children how you can be trusted. 20The Lord saved me! We will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the Lord's Temple.”
21Isaiah had said, “Prepare a dressing of figs and spread it on the skin sores so he may recover.” 22Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign to confirm that I will go to the Lord's Temple?”
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Isaiah 38: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 38
38
1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. 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, you shall not recover.” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5“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; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.
7“This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.#38.8 The Hebrew of this verse is obscure
9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10I said, In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11I said, I shall not see the Lord
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night thou dost bring me to an end;#38.12 Heb uncertain
13I cry for help#38.13 Cn: Heb obscure until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night thou dost bring me to an end.#38.13 Heb uncertain
14Like a swallow or a crane#38.14 Heb uncertain I clamor,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be thou my security!
15But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled#38.15 Cn Compare Syr: Heb I will walk slowly 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.#38.16 Heb uncertain
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17Lo, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but thou hast held back#38.17 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb loved my life
from the pit of destruction,
for thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back.
18For Sheol cannot thank thee,
death cannot praise thee;
those who go down to the pit cannot hope
for thy faithfulness.
19The living, the living, he thanks thee,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
thy faithfulness.
20The Lord will save me,
and we will sing to stringed instruments#38.20 Heb my stringed instruments
all the days of our life,
at the house of the Lord.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America