Isaiah 38
38
CHAPTER 38
1In those days Hezekiah was sick unto the death; and Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, entered to him, and said to him, The Lord saith these things, Dispose thy house, for thou shalt die, and thou shalt not live.
2And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed the Lord,
3and said, Lord, I beseech; have thou mind, I beseech, how I went before thee in truth, and in perfect heart, and I did that that was good before thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.
4And the word of the Lord was made to Isaiah, and said,
5Go thou, and say to Hezekiah, The Lord God of David, thy father, saith these things, I have heard thy prayer, and I saw thy tears. Lo! I shall add on thy days fifteen years;
6and I shall deliver thee and this city from the hand of the king of Assyrians, and I shall defend it.
7Forsooth this shall be to thee a sign of the Lord, that the Lord shall do this word, which he hath spoken.
8Lo! I shall make the shadow of lines, by which it went down in the horologe of Ahaz, in the sun, to turn again backward by ten lines. And the sun turned again by ten lines, by [the] degrees by which it had gone down.
9 The scripture of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness.
10I said, in the middle of my days, I shall go to the gates of hell. I sought the residue of my years;
11I said, I shall not see the Lord God in the land of livers; I shall no more behold a man, and a dweller of rest.
12My generation is taken away, and is folded together from me, as the tabernacle of shepherds is folded together. My life is cut down as of a web; he cutted down me, the while I was woven yet.
13From the morrowtide till to the eventide I felt like thou shalt end me; I hoped till to the morrowtide; as a lion, so he all-brake my bones. From the morrowtide till to the eventide I felt like thou shalt end me;
14as the young of a swallow, so I shall cry; I shall bethink as a culver. Mine eyes beholding on high, be made feeble. Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me;
15what shall I say, either what shall he answer to me, when he hath done? I shall bethink to thee all my years, in the bitterness of my soul.
16Lord, if men liveth so, and the life of my spirit is in such things, thou shalt chastise me, and shalt quicken me.
17Lo! my bitterness is most bitter in peace; forsooth thou hast delivered my soul, that it perished not; thou hast cast away behind thy back all my sins.
18For not hell shall acknowledge to thee, neither death shall praise thee; they that go down into the pit, shall not abide thy truth.
19A living man, a living man, he shall acknowledge to thee, as and I today; the father shall make known thy truth to [the] sons.
20Lord, make thou me safe, and we shall sing our psalms in all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21And Isaiah commanded, that they should take a gobbet of figs, and make a plaster on the wound; and it should be healed.
22And Hezekiah said, What sign shall be, that I shall ascend [or go up] into the house of the Lord?
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Isaiah 38: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
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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