Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness
1At that time Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, “The Lord told me to tell you this: ‘You will die soon. So you should tell your family what they should do when you die. You will not get well.’”
2Hezekiah turned toward the wall that faced the Temple and began praying to the Lord. 3“Lord, remember that I have faithfully served you with all my heart. I have done what you say is good.” Then Hezekiah cried very hard.
4Then Isaiah received this message from the Lord: 5“Go to Hezekiah and tell him that the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says, ‘I heard your prayer, and I saw your tears. I will add 15 years to your life. 6I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will protect this city.’”
21 # 38:21, 22 These verses fit better here than at the end of the chapter, where they appear in the standard Hebrew text. See 2 Kings 20:6-9. Then Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Crush figs together and put them on your sore. Then you will get well.”
22Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that proves I will get well and go to the Lord’s Temple?”
7This is the sign from the Lord to show you that he will do what he says: 8“Look, I am causing the shadow that is on the steps of Ahaz#38:8 steps of Ahaz The steps of a special building that Hezekiah used like a clock. When the sun shone on the steps, the shadows showed what time of the day it was. to move back ten steps. The sun’s shadow will go back up the ten steps that it has already been on.”
Hezekiah’s Song
9This is the letter from Hezekiah when he became well:
10I thought I would live a full life.
But now, in the middle of my life, the time has come for me to die.
11So I said, “I will not see the Lord YAH#38:11 the Lord YAH Or “YAHWEH,” a Hebrew name for God. See “YAHWEH” in the Word List. in the land of the living again.
I will not see the people living on earth.
12My home, my shepherd’s tent, is being pulled down and taken from me.
I am finished like the cloth someone rolls up and cuts from the loom.
You ended my life in such a short time.
13All night I cried as loud as a lion,
but my hopes were crushed like a lion eating bones.
You finished my life in such a short time.
14I cried like a bird
and moaned like a dove.
My eyes became tired,
but I continued looking to the heavens.
Lord, I am so depressed.
Promise to help me.”
15What can I say?
He told me what would happen,
and he will make it happen.
I have had these troubles in my soul,
so now I will be humble all my life.
16Lord, use this hard time to make my spirit live again.
Help my spirit become strong and healthy.
Help me become well!
Help me live again!
17Look, my troubles are gone!
I now have peace.
You love me very much.
You did not let me rot in the grave.
You took my sins
and threw them away.
18The dead cannot praise you.
People in Sheol cannot sing praises to you.
Those who have died and gone below
are not trusting in your faithfulness.
19People who are alive, people like me,
are the ones who will praise you.
Fathers should tell their children about how faithful you are.
20So I say, “The Lord saved me.
So we will sing and play songs in the Lord’s Temple all our lives.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah Healed
1In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lord says this, ‘Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’ ” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘For the Lord, the God of David your father says this, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].” ’
7“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (#Some suggest that this stairway was built to serve as a sundial; others think that it was just a stairway whose design happened to function as a kind of sundial. The Hebrew word simply means “ascent,” which can be a stair or a stairway. If it was fully exposed to the sun, the shadow must have been cast by some object, such as a pole. Otherwise, if it was covered, then perhaps there was an opening through which the sun shone and illuminated part of the stairway.sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said, “In mid-life
I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),
I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web].
He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom];
From day to night You bring me to an end.
13I lay down until morning.
Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You bring me to an end.
14Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp;
I coo like a dove.
My eyes look wistfully upward;
O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my security.
15“What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
Restore me to health and let me live!
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;
But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19It is the living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20The Lord is ready to save me;
Therefore we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.”
21Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and rub it [as an ointment] on the inflamed spot, that he may recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
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