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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Isaiah 38: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 38
38
1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.
7“This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.#38.8 The Hebrew of this verse is obscure
9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10I said, In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11I said, I shall not see the Lord
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night thou dost bring me to an end;#38.12 Heb uncertain
13I cry for help#38.13 Cn: Heb obscure until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night thou dost bring me to an end.#38.13 Heb uncertain
14Like a swallow or a crane#38.14 Heb uncertain I clamor,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be thou my security!
15But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled#38.15 Cn Compare Syr: Heb I will walk slowly 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.#38.16 Heb uncertain
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17Lo, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but thou hast held back#38.17 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb loved my life
from the pit of destruction,
for thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back.
18For Sheol cannot thank thee,
death cannot praise thee;
those who go down to the pit cannot hope
for thy faithfulness.
19The living, the living, he thanks thee,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
thy faithfulness.
20The Lord will save me,
and we will sing to stringed instruments#38.20 Heb my stringed instruments
all the days of our life,
at the house of the Lord.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
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