Isaiah 38:9–20

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

¹⁰I said, ^xIn the middle⁴ of my days

I must depart;

I am consigned to the gates of Sheol

for the rest of my years.

¹¹I said, I shall not see the Lord,

the Lord ^yin the land of the living;

I shall look on man no more

among the inhabitants of the world.

¹²My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me

^zlike a shepherd’s tent;

^alike a weaver ^bI have rolled up my life;

^che cuts me off from the loom;

^dfrom day to night you bring me to an end;

^13eI calmed myself⁵ until morning;

like a lion ^fhe breaks all my bones;

from day to night you bring me to an end.

¹⁴Like ^ga swallow or a crane I chirp;

^hI moan like a dove.

ⁱMy eyes are weary with looking upward.

O Lord, I am oppressed; ^jbe my pledge of safety!

¹⁵What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,

and he himself has done it.

^kI walk slowly all my years

because of the bitterness of my soul.

^16lO Lord, by these things men live,

and in all these is the life of my spirit.

Oh restore me to health and make me live!

^17mBehold, it was for my welfare

that I had great bitterness;

ⁿbut in love you have delivered my life

from the pit of destruction,

ⁿfor you have cast all my sins

behind your back.

^18oFor Sheol does not thank you;

death does not praise you;

those who go down to the pit do not hope

for your faithfulness.

¹⁹The living, the living, he thanks you,

as I do this day;

^pthe father makes known to the children

your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me,

and we will play my music on stringed instruments

all the days of our lives,

^qat the house of the Lord.