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’s Illness and Recovery
(2 Kings 20:1–11; 2 Chronicles 32:24–31)
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3saying, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.#38:6 MT and LXX; DSS includes for My sake and for the sake of My servant David; see 2 Kings 20:6. 7This will be a sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised: 8I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’”
So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanksgiving
9This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10I said, “In the prime #38:10 Or In the quiet or In the middle of my life
I must go through the gates of Sheol
and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11I said, “I will never again see the Lord,
even the Lord, in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind
with those who dwell in this world.
12My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;
He cuts me off from the loom;
from day until night You make an end of me.
13I composed myself #38:13 Or I cried out; see Targum Yonaton. until the morning.
Like a lion He breaks all my bones;
from day until night You make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or crane;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak as I look upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this.
I will walk slowly all my years
because of the anguish of my soul.
16O Lord, by such things men live,
and in all of them my spirit finds life.
You have restored me to health
and have let me live.
17Surely for my own welfare
I had such great anguish;
but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion,
for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18For Sheol cannot thank You;
Death cannot praise You.
Those who descend to the Pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living, can thank You,
as I do today;
fathers will tell their children
about Your faithfulness.
20The Lord will save me;
we will play songs on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the house of the Lord.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.