Isaiah 38

Hezekiah’s Illness

¹In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

²Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³“Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

⁷“ ‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: ⁸I 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.

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life

must I go through the gates of death

and be robbed of the rest of my years?”

¹¹I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself

in the land of the living;

no longer will I look on my fellow man,

or be with those who now dwell in this world.

¹²Like a shepherd’s tent my house

has been pulled down and taken from me.

Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,

and he has cut me off from the loom;

day and night you made an end of me.

¹³I waited patiently till dawn,

but like a lion he broke all my bones;

day and night you made an end of me.

¹⁴I cried like a swift or thrush,

I moaned like a mourning dove.

My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.

I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”

¹⁵But what can I say?

He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.

I will walk humbly all my years

because of this anguish of my soul.

¹⁶Lord, by such things people live;

and my spirit finds life in them too.

You restored me to health

and let me live.

¹⁷Surely it was for my benefit

that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me

from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins

behind your back.

¹⁸For the grave cannot praise you,

death cannot sing your praise;

those who go down to the pit

cannot hope for your faithfulness.

¹⁹The living, the living—they praise you,

as I am doing today;

parents tell their children

about your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me,

and we will sing with stringed instruments

all the days of our lives

in the temple of the Lord.

²¹Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

²²Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”