Isaiah 38
38
“Put Your House In Order”
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Adonai: Put your house in order. For you are dying, and will not live.”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Adonai.
3He said: “Please, Adonai, remember how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then it came to pass, the word of Adonai came to Isaiah saying:
5“Go, and say to Hezekiah, thus says Adonai, the God of your father David: ‘I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add 15 years to your life.
6I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.’
7“Now this will be the sign to you from Adonai, that Adonai will do this word He has spoken:
8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairs, which went down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, to turn back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.
9A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after his illness, when he recovered from his illness:
10I said: “In the prime of my life, I am to enter the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
11I said: “I will not see Adonai, Adonai, in the land of the living. I will look on humanity no longer among the inhabitants of the world.
12Like a shepherd’s tent, my dwelling is pulled up and carried away from me. Like a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom. From day until night You make my end.
13I stilled my soul till morning. Like a lion, He will break all my bones. From day till night You make my end.
14Like a swallow or a crane, I whisper, I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary, looking upward. Adonai, I am oppressed, be my security!
15What should I say? For He has spoken to me— He Himself has done it! I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16Adonai, by such things men live, and my spirit has life in them too. Restore me to health, and let me live!
17Behold, it was for my own shalom that I had great bitterness. You have loved my soul out of the Pit of destruction! For You have flung all my sins behind Your back.
18For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19The living, the living—they praise You— as I do today. A father makes Your faithfulness known to his children.
20Adonai will save me. So we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life in the House of Adonai.”
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and apply it to the boil, and he will live.”
22Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the House of Adonai?”
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Isaiah 38: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness
1Now, Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and prophesied to him, saying, “This is what Yahweh has to say to you: Set your affairs in order, for you will not recover from this illness. You are going to die.” 2Then Hezekiah broke down and wept, turned his face to the wall, and prayed, “O please, Yahweh, please. I beg you, let me live. 3Remember how I have walked faithfully before your face. With all my heart, I have sought to do only what is good in your eyes.” Bitter tears streamed down his face.
4Then Isaiah received another prophetic word for Hezekiah. Yahweh said to him, 5“Go deliver this message to Hezekiah: ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of your ancestor David, has to say to you: I have heard your heartfelt prayer and I have seen you cry tear after bitter tear. I will give you another fifteen years. 6I will defend Jerusalem, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. 7This will be a sign to you from Yahweh as a confirmation that I will do for you what I have promised. 8I will cause the sun’s shadow to retreat ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ”
Then the sunlight went back up the ten steps it had gone down. # 38:8 It is possible that these steps functioned as some type of a sundial. See Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 614, s.v.
Hezekiah’s Psalm of Praise
9Here is the poem of Hezekiah, king of Judah, which he wrote when he was healed from his illness:
10I was dying in the prime of life.
I thought, “Must I leave this world now?
Must I go through the gates of death
and miss out on the rest of my years?”
11I thought, “I won’t get to see # 38:11 Or “appear before [in the temple].” Yah again
in the land of the living.
No longer will I see my friends or family
nor enjoy the company of anyone living on earth.
12My body is being folded up and taken from me,
taken down like a shepherd’s tent.
He cuts my life short,
as a weaver cuts his cloth from the loom and rolls it up.
From day to night, you bring my life to an end.
13I felt as though a lion were crushing all my bones
as I cried out for help until morning.
From day to night, you bring my life to an end.
14I could only chirp like a swallow or small bird;
I could only moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary from looking up into heaven.
Yahweh, I am so depressed. Come and be my strength. # 38:14 Or “stability.”
15But what can I say?
For he has spoken to me and told me
that he is the one who has done this. # 38:15 This is almost the same as saying, “It is finished.”
I can’t sleep a wink # 38:15 Or “All my sleep has fled” or “I walk slowly all my years.” The Hebrew is uncertain. because I’m overwhelmed with grief. # 38:15 Or “because of the bitterness of my soul.”
16Lord, it is because of your kindness # 38:16 Or “because of these things” (kindness, mercy, acts of love, goodness of God). that life is given.
It is in you that my spirit lives. # 38:16 The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain.
Now restore my health and give me life again!
17Truly, it was for my own good
that I had this bitter experience.
For you loved my soul out of the pit of oblivion.
You cast all my sins behind your back.
18The grave and those buried there cannot praise you.
Neither the realm of death nor those who enter it
can give you thanks or hope for your faithfulness.
19It’s the living who thank you as I do today.
One generation makes your faithfulness known to the next.
20Yahweh is pleased to heal me and save me!
We will sing to the music of stringed instruments
every day of our lives in Yahweh’s house.”
21Now, Isaiah had said to Hezekiah, “Have the physicians apply a poultice of cakes of dried figs to your boil, and you will recover.”
22And Hezekiah had said, “What will be the sign from God that I will be healed and go up again to worship in Yahweh’s house?” # 38:22 Because this verse seems so out of place, many contemporary translations place it between v. 6 and v. 7. See also 2 Kings 20:7–8. Hezekiah was not afraid of asking for a sign, not wanting to make the mistake of his father, Ahaz (see Isa. 7:11–13).
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