Isaiah 38
38
Chapter 38
Hezekiah becomes ill
1At that time, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. Then Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, went to Hezekiah. He said to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You will soon die. You will not get better. So you must tell your family what to do after your death.” ’
2Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall and he prayed to the Lord. 3He prayed, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
4Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 5‘Go and say this to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord says, the God that your ancestor David worshipped. I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. So I will let you live for 15 more years. 6I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will keep Jerusalem safe.” ’
7Isaiah said, ‘The Lord will do what he has promised to do for you. This is how you will know that it will really happen. 8You can see the sun's shadow when it falls on the stairs that King Ahaz built. The Lord will cause the shadow to go back ten steps on these stairs.’ Then the shadow did go back ten steps!
Hezekiah's song
9When Hezekiah became better from his disease, he wrote this song:
10I thought that I might die in the middle of my life.
I thought that I would go into the deep hole of death,
before I had lived all the years of my life.
11I thought, ‘I will not see the Lord again,
while I live in this world.
I will no longer see the people who live in the world.
I will no longer live among them.’
12My home here has gone,
as easily as they pull down a shepherd's tent.
God has cut off my life,
like a piece of cloth that they have just made.
They cut it off and they roll it up.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
13I waited until morning would come.
It seemed like God was breaking all my bones,
like a lion does.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
14I cry like a swallow.
I make a sad noise like a dove.
My eyes are weak as I look up to heaven for help.
Lord God, save me from my trouble!
15I do not know what I can say.
The Lord has told me what must happen.
He has done what he decided to do.
I will live quietly for the rest of my life,
because I am very sad and upset.
16 Lord God, your promises give life to people.
May they give life to my spirit.
Please make me well again and let me live.
17Yes, it was good for me to have this trouble.
You rescued me from the deep hole of death.
You removed my sins,
and you put them behind your back.
18Dead people in their graves cannot praise you.
They cannot sing to thank you.
People who go down into the deep hole of death
cannot trust you to help them.
19It is those people who are alive that can thank you.
And I am doing it today.
Fathers tell their children that they can trust you.
20The Lord will now save me from death.
We will sing to thank the Lord in his temple.
We will sing with happy music every day of our lives.
21Now Isaiah had said this: ‘Take some figs to make a medicine and put it on Hezekiah's boil. Then he will get better.’ 22Hezekiah had asked, ‘What will show me that I will be able to go up to the Lord's temple?’ #38:22 Verses 21-22 may come between verse 6 and verse 7.
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Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
(2 Kings 20:1–11; 2 Chronicles 32:24–31)
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3saying, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.#38:6 MT and LXX; DSS includes for My sake and for the sake of My servant David; see 2 Kings 20:6. 7This will be a sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised: 8I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’”
So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanksgiving
9This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10I said, “In the prime #38:10 Or In the quiet or In the middle of my life
I must go through the gates of Sheol
and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11I said, “I will never again see the Lord,
even the Lord, in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind
with those who dwell in this world.
12My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;
He cuts me off from the loom;
from day until night You make an end of me.
13I composed myself #38:13 Or I cried out; see Targum Yonaton. until the morning.
Like a lion He breaks all my bones;
from day until night You make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or crane;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak as I look upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this.
I will walk slowly all my years
because of the anguish of my soul.
16O Lord, by such things men live,
and in all of them my spirit finds life.
You have restored me to health
and have let me live.
17Surely for my own welfare
I had such great anguish;
but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion,
for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18For Sheol cannot thank You;
Death cannot praise You.
Those who descend to the Pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living, can thank You,
as I do today;
fathers will tell their children
about Your faithfulness.
20The Lord will save me;
we will play songs on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the house of the Lord.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.