Isaiah 38
38
King Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
(2 Kgs 20.1–11; 2 Chr 32.24–26)
1About this time King Hezekiah fell ill and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, “The LORD tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die.”
2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3“Remember, LORD, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly.
4Then the LORD commanded Isaiah 5to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, “I, the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer. 6I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city.”
21 # 38.21 Verses 21–22 are moved here from the end of the chapter (see 2 Kgs 20.6–9). Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well. 22Then King Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?”
7Isaiah replied, “The LORD will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. 8On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the LORD will make the shadow go back ten steps.” And the shadow moved back ten steps.#38.8 stairway… ten steps… steps; or sundial… ten degrees… degrees (see 2 Kgs 20.9–11).
9After Hezekiah recovered from his illness, he wrote this song of praise:
10I thought that in the prime of life
I was going to the world of the dead,
Never to live out my life.
11I thought that in this world of the living
I would never again see the LORD
Or any living person.
12My life was cut off and ended,
Like a tent that is taken down,
Like cloth that is cut from a loom.
I thought that God was ending my life.#38.12 I thought… my life; Hebrew unclear.
13All night I cried out with pain,
As if a lion were breaking my bones.
I thought that God was ending my life.#38.13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.
14My voice was thin and weak,
And I moaned like a dove.
My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven.
Lord, rescue me from all this trouble.
15What can I say? The LORD has done this.
My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep.
16Lord, I will live for you, for you alone;
Heal me and let me live.#38.16 Verses 15–16 in Hebrew are unclear.
17My bitterness will turn into peace.
You save#38.17 Some ancient translations save; Hebrew love. my life from all danger;
You forgive all my sins.
18No one in the world of the dead can praise you;
The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness.
19It is the living who praise you,
As I praise you now.
Parents tell their children how faithful you are.
20 LORD, you have healed me.
We will play harps and sing your praise,
Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live.#38.20 Verses 21–22 are placed after verse 6.
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Isaiah 38: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 38
38
1In those days Ḥizqiyahu was sick and near death. And Yeshayahu the prophet, the son of Amots, came to him, and said to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Command your house, for you are going to die and not live.’ ”
2And Ḥizqiyahu turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to יהוה,
3and said, “I pray, O יהוה, please remember how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Ḥizqiyahu wept bitterly.
4And the word of יהוה came to Yeshayahu, saying,
5“Go and say to Ḥizqiyahu, ‘Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Dawiḏ your father, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. See, I am adding fifteen years to your days.
6“And out of the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur I shall deliver you and this city, and protect this city.” ’
7“And this is the sign to you from יהוה, that יהוה does this word which He has spoken:
8“See, I am bringing the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Aḥaz, ten degrees backward.” And the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
9This is the writing of Ḥizqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10I said, “Am I to go into the gates of She’ol in the prime of my life? Shall I be deprived of the rest of my years?”
11I said, “I shall not see Yah – Yah in the land of the living! I shall no longer look on man with the inhabitants of the world!
12“My dwelling is plucked up, taken from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have cut off my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom. From day to night You make an end of me.
13“I soothed myself until morning. Like a lion, so He shatters all my bones. From day to night You make an end of me.
14“Like a swallow or a thrush, so I chattered; I moaned like a dove; my eyes look weakly on high. O יהוה, I am oppressed, undertake for me!
15“What do I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has acted. Softly I go, all my years, because of the bitterness of my being.
16“O יהוה, by these do men live, and my spirit finds life in all of them. Restore me and make me live.
17“See, for peace I had what was bitter, bitter. But You have lovingly delivered my being from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18“For She’ol does not thank You, nor death praise You; those who go down to the pit do not watch for Your truth.
19“The living, the living – he is praising You, as I do this day. A father makes known Your truth to his children.
20“יהוה, come to save me! And let us sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the House of יהוה.”
21For Yeshayahu had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and apply it on the boil, so that he lives.”
22And Ḥizqiyahu asked, “What is the sign that I go up to the House of יהוה?”
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