Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

38 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. r The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your affairs in order, s t for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” u

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly, v and have done what pleases You.” w x And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life. y z 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city. a 7 This is the sign to you b from the Lord that He will do what c He has promised: d 8 I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” e So the sun’s shadow f went back the 10 steps it had descended.

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

10 I said: In the prime g of my life h i

I must go to the gates of * Sheol; j

I am deprived of the rest of my years.

11 I said: I will never see the Lord,

the Lord in the land of the living; k

I will not look on humanity any longer

with the inhabitants of what is passing away. l

12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me

like a shepherd’s tent. m

I have rolled up my life like a weaver; n

He cuts me off from the loom. o p

You make an end of me from day until night. q

13 I thought until the morning:

He will break all my bones like a lion;

You make an end of me day and night.

14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;

I moan like a dove. r

My eyes grow weak looking upward.

Lord, I am oppressed; support me. s

15 What can I say?

He has spoken to me,

and He Himself has done it.

I walk along slowly all my years t

because of the bitterness of my soul, u

16 Lord, because of these promises people live, v

and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well;

You have restored me to health w

and let me live. x

17 Indeed, it was for my own welfare

that I had such great bitterness; y

but Your love has delivered me

from the * Pit of destruction, z

for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back. a

18 For Sheol cannot thank You;

Death cannot praise You. b

Those who go down to the Pit

cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

19 The living, only the living can thank You,

as I do today;

a father will make Your faithfulness known to children. c

20 The Lord will d save me;

we will play stringed instruments

all the days of our lives

at the house of the Lord. e

21 Now Isaiah f had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”