Isaiah 38
38
1 IN THOSE days King Hezekiah of Judah became ill and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. [II Kings 20:1-11; II Chron. 32:24-26.]
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord
3 And said, Remember [earnestly] now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in faithfulness and in truth, with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
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 to your life fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].
7 And this will be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:
8 Behold, I will turn the shadow [denoting the time of day] on the steps or degrees, which has gone down on the steps or sundial of Ahaz, backward ten steps or degrees. And the sunlight turned back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, In the noontide and tranquillity of my days I must depart; I am to pass through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead), deprived of the remainder of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My [fleshly] dwelling is plucked up and is removed from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web]; [the Lord] cuts me free from the loom; from day to night You bring me to an end.
13 I thought and quieted myself until morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day to night You bring me to an end.
14 Like a twittering swallow or a crane, so do I chirp and chatter; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary and dim with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; take my side and be my security [as of a debtor being sent to prison].
15 But what can I say? For He has both spoken to me and He Himself has done it. I must go softly [as in solemn procession] all my years and my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live; and in all these is the life of my spirit. O give me back my health and make me live!
17 Behold, it was for my peace that I had intense bitterness; but You have loved back my life from the pit of corruption and nothingness, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol (the place of the dead) cannot confess and reach out the hand to You, death cannot praise and rejoice in You; they who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness [to Your promises; their probation is at an end, their destiny is sealed].
19 The living, the living–they shall thank and praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known to the children Your faithfulness and Your truth.
20 The Lord is ready to save (deliver) me; therefore we will sing my songs with [my] stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.
21 Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, that he may recover.
22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
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Isaiah 38: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Isaiah 38
38
Hezekiah Gets Sick and Almost Dies
(2 Kings 20.1-11; 2 Chronicles 32.24-26)
1About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. So I went in and told him, “The Lord says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, and so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”
2Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed, 3“Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, Lord. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried hard.
4Then the Lord sent me 5with this message for Hezekiah:
I am the Lord God, who was worshiped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will let you live 15 more years, 6while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria.
7Now I will prove to you that I will keep my promise. 8Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps.
Then the shadow went back ten steps.#38.8 steps: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 8.
King Hezekiah's Song of Praise
9This is what Hezekiah wrote after he got well:
10I thought I would die
during my best years
and stay as a prisoner forever
in the world of the dead.
11I thought I would never again
see you, my Lord,
or any of the people
who live on this earth.
12My life was taken from me
like the tent that a shepherd
pulls up and moves.
You cut me off like thread
from a weaver's loom;
you make a wreck of me
day and night.
13Until morning came, I thought
you would crush my bones
just like a hungry lion;
both night and day
you make a wreck of me.#38.13 of me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
14I cry like a swallow;
I mourn like a dove.
My eyes are red
from looking to you, Lord.
I am in terrible trouble.
Please come and help me.#38.14 help me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 14.
15There's nothing I can say
in answer to you,
since you are the one
who has done this to me.#38.15 There's … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
My life has turned sour;
I will limp until I die.
16Your words and your deeds
bring life to everyone,
including me.#38.16 Your … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Please make me healthy
and strong again.
17It was for my own good
that I had such hard times.
But your love protected me
from doom in the deep pit,#38.17 deep pit: The world of the dead, as in verse 18.
and you turned your eyes
away from my sins.
18 #
Si 17.27; Ba 2.17. No one in the world of the dead
can thank you or praise you;
none of those in the deep pit
can hope for you
to show them
how faithful you are.
19Only the living can thank you,
as I am doing today.
Each generation tells the next
about your faithfulness.#38.19 about your faithfulness: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
20You, Lord, will save me,
and every day that we live
we will sing in your temple
to the music
of stringed instruments.
Isaiah's Advice to Hezekiah
21I had told King Hezekiah's servants to put some mashed figs on the king's open sore, and he would get well. 22Then Hezekiah asked for proof that he would again worship in the Lord's temple.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.