^20:1In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.¹ The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’ ”²^20:2He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ^20:3“Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you³ faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,⁴ and how I have carried out your will.”⁵ Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.⁶

^20:4Isaiah was still in the middle courtyard when the Lord told him,⁷^20:5“Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow⁸ you will go up to the Lord’s temple. ^20:6I will add fifteen years to your life and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.” ’ ”⁹^20:7Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered¹⁰ and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered.¹¹

^20:8Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” ^20:9Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?”¹²^20:10Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it¹³ to go back ten steps.” ^20:11Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord¹⁴ made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.¹⁵

Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah

^20:12At that time Merodach-Baladan¹⁶ son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill. ^20:13Hezekiah welcomed¹⁷ them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.¹⁸^20:14Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” ^20:15Isaiah¹⁹ asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything²⁰ in my treasuries.” ^20:16Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord, ^20:17‘Look, a time is²¹ coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ^20:18‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father²² will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ” ^20:19Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.”²³ Then he added,²⁴ “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”²⁵

^20:20The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and all his accomplishments, including how he built a pool and conduit to bring²⁶ water into the city, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.²⁷^20:21Hezekiah passed away²⁸ and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.

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Footnotes

1 Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”
2 Heb “will not live.”
3 Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
4 Heb “and with a complete heart.”
5 Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”
6 Heb “wept with great weeping.”
7 Heb “and Isaiah had not gone out of the middle courtyard, and the word of the Lord came to him, saying.” Instead of “courtyard” (חָצֵר, khatser), the marginal reading, (Qere), the Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) has הָעִיר (ha’ir), “the city.”
8 Heb “on the third day.”
9 Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
10 Heb “and they got [a fig cake].”
11 Heb “and he lived.”
12 The Hebrew הָלַךְ (halakh, a perfect), “it has moved ahead,” should be emended to הֲיֵלֵךְ (hayelekh, an imperfect with interrogative he [ה] prefixed), “shall it move ahead.”
13 Heb “the shadow.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 Heb “on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, back ten steps.” These steps probably functioned as a type of sundial. See מַעֲלָה and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
16 The has “Berodach-Baladan,” but several Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses agree with the parallel passage in Isa 39:1 and read “Merodach-Baladan.”
17 Heb “listened to.” Some Hebrew , as well as the , , and versions agree with the parallel passage in Isa 39:2 and read, “was happy with.”
18 Heb “there was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his kingdom.”
19 Heb “he”; the referent (Isaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 Heb “there was nothing I did not show them.”
21 Heb “days are.”
22 Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”
23 Heb “good.”
24 Heb “and he said.” Many English versions translate, “for he thought.” The verb אָמַר (’amar), “say,” is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself). Cf. , , , , .
25 Heb “Is it not [true] there will be peace and stability in my days?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, there will be peace and stability.”
26 Heb “and he brought.”
27 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Hezekiah, and all his strength, and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water to the city, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
28 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”