Isaias (Isaiah) 38
38
1IN those days, Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet came unto him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.
2And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord,
3And said: I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping.
4And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying:
5Go and say to Ezechias: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add to thy days fifteen years.
6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians: and I will protect it.
7And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word which he hath spoken:
8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun-dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down.
9The writing of Ezechias king of Juda, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell. I sought for the residue of my years.
11I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest.
12My generation is at an end; and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off. From morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.
13I hoped till morning: as a lion so hath he broken all my bones. From morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.
14I will cry like a young swallow, I will meditate like a dove: my eyes are weakened looking upward. Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me.
15What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he himself hath done it? I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me and make me to live.
17Behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter. But thou best delivered my soul that it should not perish: thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit look for thy truth.
19The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make thy truth known to the children.
20O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of figs and lay it as it plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed.
22And Ezechias had said: What shall be the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
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Isaias (Isaiah) 38: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
1In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.#2Kg 20:1–6,9–11; 2Ch 32:24 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order,#2Sm 17:23 for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”#38:1 Lit live
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly,#Gn 17:1; 1Kg 2:4; 3:6; 8:23; 2Kg 18:5–6; Ps 26:3 and have done what pleases you.”#Dt 6:18 And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.#38:5 Lit days, also in v. 10#2Kg 18:2,13 6And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.#Is 31:5; 37:35 7This is the sign to you#Is 37:30 from the Lord that he will do what he has promised: 8I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’”#Jos 10:12–14 So the sun’s shadow#38:8 Lit And the sun went back the ten steps it had descended.
9A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said: In the prime#38:10 Lit quiet of my life#Ps 102:24
I must go to the gates of Sheol;#Ps 107:18
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11I said: I will never see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;#Ps 27:13; 116:9
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.#38:11 Some Hb mss, Tg read of the world
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.#2Co 5:1,4; 2Pt 1:13–14
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;#Jb 7:6; Heb 1:12
he cuts me off from the loom.#Jb 6:9
By nightfall#38:12 Lit From day until night, also in v. 13 you make an end of me.#Jb 4:20; Ps 73:14
13I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.#Is 59:11; Ezk 7:16; Nah 2:7
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.#Jb 17:3; Ps 119:122
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years#1Kg 21:27
because of the bitterness of my soul.#1Sm 1:10; Ezk 27:31; Jb 3:20; 7:11; 10:1
16Lord, by such things people live,#Ps 119:71,75
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health#Ps 39:13
and let me live.#Ps 119:25
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness;#Heb 12:11
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,#Jb 33:18,30; Ps 103:4; 106:23; Ezk 20:17; Jnh 2:6
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.#Is 43:25; Jr 31:34; Mc 7:19
18For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you.#Ps 6:5; 30:9; 88:10–12; 115:17
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.#Dt 6:7; 11:19; Ps 78:5–7
20The Lord is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord.#Ps 23:6; 116:17–19
21Now Isaiah#2Kg 20:7–8 had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”
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