Isaiah 38:9–20

⁹A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

¹⁰I said: In the prime^D of my life^x

I must go to the gates of Sheol;^y

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;^z

I will not look on humanity any longer

with the inhabitants of what is passing away.^E

¹²My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me

like a shepherd’s tent.^aa

I have rolled up my life like a weaver;^ab

he cuts me off from the loom.^ac

By nightfall you make an end of me.^ad

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.^ae

My eyes grow weak looking upward.

Lord, I am oppressed; support me.^a

¹⁵What can I say?

He has spoken to me,

and he himself has done it.

I walk along slowly all my years^b

because of the bitterness of my soul.^c

¹⁶Lord, by such things people live,^d

and in every one of them my spirit finds life;

you have restored me to health^e

and let me live.^f

¹⁷Indeed, it was for my own well-being

that I had such intense bitterness;^g

but your love has delivered me

from the Pit of destruction,^h

for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.ⁱ

¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank you;

Death cannot praise you.^j

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.^k

²⁰The Lord is ready to save me;

we will play stringed instruments

all the days of our lives

at the house of the Lord.^l