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: ‘Put your affairs in order, # Lit Command your house # 2Sm 17:23 for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” # 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.” # Lit what is good in Your eyes # Dt 6:18 And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5“Go and tell Hezekiah that 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 15 years to your life. # Lit days # 2Kg 18:2,13 6And I will deliver you and this city from the power 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 # Lit this thing He has promised: # Lit said 8I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” # Jos 10:12-14 So the sun’s shadow # Lit And the sun went back the 10 steps it had descended.
9A poem by Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said: In the prime # Lit quiet of my life # Lit days # 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. # 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. # Lit thrum # Jb 6:9
You make an end of me from day until night. # Jb 4:20; Ps 73:14
13I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion;
You make an end of me day and night.
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, because of these promises people live, # Ps 119:71,75
and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well;
You have restored me to health # Ps 39:13
and let me live. # Ps 119:25
17Indeed, it was for my own welfare
that I had such great 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 will # Lit 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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Isaiah 38: HCSB
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Isaiah 38
38
King Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
(2 Kgs 20.1–11; 2 Chr 32.24–26)
1About this time King Hezekiah fell ill and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, “The LORD tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die.”
2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3“Remember, LORD, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly.
4Then the LORD commanded Isaiah 5to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, “I, the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer. 6I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city.”
21 # 38.21 Verses 21–22 are moved here from the end of the chapter (see 2 Kgs 20.6–9). Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well. 22Then King Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?”
7Isaiah replied, “The LORD will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. 8On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the LORD will make the shadow go back ten steps.” And the shadow moved back ten steps.#38.8 stairway… ten steps… steps; or sundial… ten degrees… degrees (see 2 Kgs 20.9–11).
9After Hezekiah recovered from his illness, he wrote this song of praise:
10I thought that in the prime of life
I was going to the world of the dead,
Never to live out my life.
11I thought that in this world of the living
I would never again see the LORD
Or any living person.
12My life was cut off and ended,
Like a tent that is taken down,
Like cloth that is cut from a loom.
I thought that God was ending my life.#38.12 I thought… my life; Hebrew unclear.
13All night I cried out with pain,
As if a lion were breaking my bones.
I thought that God was ending my life.#38.13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.
14My voice was thin and weak,
And I moaned like a dove.
My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven.
Lord, rescue me from all this trouble.
15What can I say? The LORD has done this.
My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep.
16Lord, I will live for you, for you alone;
Heal me and let me live.#38.16 Verses 15–16 in Hebrew are unclear.
17My bitterness will turn into peace.
You save#38.17 Some ancient translations save; Hebrew love. my life from all danger;
You forgive all my sins.
18No one in the world of the dead can praise you;
The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness.
19It is the living who praise you,
As I praise you now.
Parents tell their children how faithful you are.
20 LORD, you have healed me.
We will play harps and sing your praise,
Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live.#38.20 Verses 21–22 are placed after verse 6.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.