Isaiah 38
38
XXXVIII
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and said unto him Thus saith Jehovah: Give charge concerning thine house: for thou shalt die and not live. 2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, mad prayed unto Jehovah. 3And he said, Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight And Hezekiah wept sore. 4Then came the word of Jehovah to Isaiah, saying: 5Go, and say unto Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6And I will deliver thee, and this city, out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 7And this shall be a sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing which he hath spoken. 8Behold, I will cause the shadow of degrees, which hath gone down, by the sun, on the dial of Ahaz, to go back ten degrees. And the sun returned back ten degrees, by the degrees by which it had gone down.
9THE WRITING OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH, WHEN HE HAD BEEN SICK, AND WAS RECOVERED FROM HIS SICKNESS.
10I said: In the noontide of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave;
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11I said: I shall no more see Jehovah,
Jehovah in the land of the living;
I shall not behold man any more,
Being numbered among the inhabitants of the land of stillness.
12My habitation is taken down, and removed from me, like a shepherd's tent.
My life is cut off, as by a weaver; He cutteth me off from the woof;
Even from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13I resembled a roaring lion till the morning,
So did He break all my bones;
Even from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14Like a swallow, or a crane, so did I twitter;
I moaned like the dove:
Mine eyes foil with looking upward;
O Jehovah, I am oppressed; be thou surety for me.
15What shall I say?
He hath both spoken unto me, and He hath himself performed it:
I will walk humbly all my years on account of the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things do men live;
And from all these things cometh the life of my spirit;
For thou hast restored my strength, and preserved my life.
17Behold, my bitter anguish is changed into health:
Thou hast also in love to me rescued my soul from the pit of destruction;
Yea, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18For the grave cannot praise thee,
Death cannot celebrate thee:
They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day;
The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 Jehovah was at hand to save me:
Therefore my stringed instruments will we strike,
All the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah.
21Now, Isaiah had said: Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall
22recover. Hezekiah also had said: What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?
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Isaiah 38: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
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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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com