Isaiah 38:9–20

Hezekiah’s Poem of Praise

⁹When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem:

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life,

must I now enter the place of the dead?

Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?”

¹¹I said, “Never again will I see the Lord God

while still in the land of the living.

Never again will I see my friends

or be with those who live in this world.

¹²My life has been blown away

like a shepherd’s tent in a storm.

It has been cut short,

as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.

Suddenly, my life was over.

¹³I waited patiently all night,

but I was torn apart as though by lions.

Suddenly, my life was over.

¹⁴Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane,

and then I moaned like a mourning dove.

My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help.

I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”

¹⁵But what could I say?

For he himself sent this sickness.

Now I will walk humbly throughout my years

because of this anguish I have felt.

¹⁶Lord, your discipline is good,

for it leads to life and health.

You restore my health

and allow me to live!

¹⁷Yes, this anguish was good for me,

for you have rescued me from death

and forgiven all my sins.

¹⁸For the dead cannot praise you;

they cannot raise their voices in praise.

Those who go down to the grave

can no longer hope in your faithfulness.

¹⁹Only the living can praise you as I do today.

Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.

²⁰Think of it—the Lord is ready to heal me!

I will sing his praises with instruments

every day of my life

in the Temple of the Lord.