Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s illness
1At about that time Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, came to him and said: “The LORD God says this: Put your affairs in order because you are about to die. You won’t survive this.”
2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD: 3“Please, LORD, remember how I’ve walked before you in truth and sincerity. I’ve done what you consider to be good.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.
4Then the LORD’s word came to Isaiah: 5“Go and say to Hezekiah: The LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says this: I have heard your prayer and have seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will rescue you and this city from the power of the Assyrian king. I will defend this city. 7This will be your sign from the LORD that he will do what he promised: 8once the shadow cast by the sun descends on the steps of Ahaz, I will make it back up ten steps.” And the sun went back ten of the steps that it had already descended.
9A composition by Judah’s King Hezekiah when he was sick and then recovered from his sickness:
10I thought, I must depart in the prime of my life;
I have been relegated to the gates of the underworld#38.10 Heb Sheol for the rest of my life.
11I thought, I won’t see the LORD.
The LORD is in the land of the living.
I won’t look upon humans again
or be with the inhabitants of the world.
12My lifetime is plucked up
and taken from me like a shepherd’s tent.
My life is shriveled like woven cloth;
God cuts me off from the loom.
Between daybreak and nightfall
you carry out your verdict against me.
13I cried out#38.13 Or I lay down until morning:
“Like a lion God crushes all my bones.
Between daybreak and nightfall
you carry out your verdict against me.
14Like a swallow#38.14 Heb uncertain I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes have grown weary looking to heaven.
Lord, I’m overwhelmed; support me!”
15What can I say?
God has spoken to me;
he himself has acted.
I will wander#38.15 Heb uncertain my whole life
with a bitter spirit.
16The LORD Most High is the one who gives life to every heart,
who gives life to the spirit!#38.16 Heb uncertain
17Look, he indeed exchanged my bitterness for wholeness.#38.17 Heb uncertain
You yourself have spared#38.17 Cf LXX, Vulg; MT loved my whole being
from the pit of destruction,
because you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18The underworld#38.18 Heb Sheol can’t thank you,
nor can death#38.18 Heb Maveth praise you;
those who go down to the pit
can’t hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, the living can thank you, as I do today.
Parents will tell children about your faithfulness.
20The LORD has truly saved me,
and we will make music#38.20 Or my stringed instruments at the LORD’s house all the days of our lives.
21Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a salve made from figs, put it on the swelling, and he’ll get better.”
22Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What’s the sign that I’ll be able to go up to the LORD’s temple?”
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Isaiah 38: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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.