Old Testament

Isaiah 38
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
381In those days Hezekiah became sick and was dying. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says. Give instructions to your household, because you are going to die. You will not survive.”
2So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3He said, “Please remember, Lord, how I have walked before you in truth and with my whole heart. I have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah.
5Go back and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says:
I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Now then, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
7This will be the sign from the Lord to you. The Lord will do what he has promised. 8Watch! I will make the shadow of the setting sun that has moved down the stairway of Ahaz move back, ten steps higher on the staircase.
Then the sun's shadow moved backwards, ten steps higher on the stairway that it had just descended.
9A poem written by Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery:[]
10I thought that, only halfway through my life,
I was entering into the gates of death,[]
deprived of the remaining years of my life.
11I thought, I will not see the Lord
—the Lord[] in the land of the living.
I will no longer see anyone among the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling place is being pulled down.
It is carried away from me like a shepherd's tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He is cutting me off from the loom.
From day until night, you make an end of me.[]
13I pondered this until morning.
He will break all my bones like a lion!
From day until night, you make an end of me.
14I chirp weakly like a swift or a swallow.
I mourn like a dove.
My eyes are tired from looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed.
Be my security.
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me, and he is the one to act.
I will march slowly throughout all my years,
because my heart is bitter.[]
16Lord, people live because you give them life.
My spirit lives through this.[]
Restore me, and let me live.[]
17The bitter things I experienced were for my benefit.
Your love has preserved my life from the pit of destruction,
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
18The grave[] cannot thank you.
Death cannot praise you.
Those who go down into the pit cannot trust your faithfulness.
19The living one, the living one, he praises you, as I do today.
A father tells his children about your faithfulness.
20The Lord will save me,
so we will sing songs with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives in the House of the Lord.
21Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs, apply it as a poultice on the inflamed spot, and he will recover.”
22Hezekiah had also asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the House of the Lord?”

Footnotes

  • 38:1 In this part of the story, the differences between the accounts in Isaiah and 2 Kings are greater than in other sections.
  • 38:9 This poem is not included in 2 Kings.
  • 38:10 Hebrew sheol
  • 38:11 The Hebrew text here has two occurrences of Yah, the short form of the divine name. Some Hebrew manuscripts have a single occurrence of Yahweh.
  • 38:12 Or day, and then night! So quickly you have made an end of me. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  • 38:15 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the Syriac read What can I say? I will say to him that he is the one to act. I cannot sleep, because my heart is bitter.
  • 38:16 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  • 38:16 Or you restore me, and you let me live!
  • 38:18 Hebrew sheol