Isaiah 38:1–20
38:1–8pp—2Ki 20:1–11; 2Ch 32:24–26
38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amozk went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,l because you are going to die; you will not recover.”m
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walkedn before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotiono and have done what is good in your eyes.p” And Hezekiah weptq bitterly.
4 Then the wordr of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,s says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;t I will add fifteen yearsu to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defendv this city.
7 “ ‘This is the Lord’s signw to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.x
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the prime of my lifey
must I go through the gates of deathz
and be robbed of the rest of my years?a”
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himselfb
in the land of the living;c
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tentd my house
has been pulled downe and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolledf up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;g
day and nighth you made an end of me.
13 I waited patientlyi till dawn,
but like a lion he brokej all my bones;k
day and nightl you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.m
My eyes grew weakn as I looked to the heavens.
I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”o
15 But what can I say?p
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.q
I will walk humblyr all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.s
16 Lord, by such things people live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.t
17 Surely it was for my benefitu
that I suffered such anguish.v
In your love you kept me
from the pitw of destruction;
you have put all my sinsx
behind your back.y
18 For the gravez cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;a
those who go down to the pitb
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praisec you,
as I am doing today;
parents tell their childrend
about your faithfulness.
and we will singe with stringed instrumentsf
all the days of our livesg
in the templeh of the Lord.