1In those days Hezekiah became very ill. He knew he was about to die. Isaiah went to see him. Isaiah was the son of Amoz. Isaiah told Hezekiah, ‘The LORD says, “Put everything in order. Make out your will. You are going to die soon. You will not get well again.” ’2Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall. He prayed to the LORD. He said,3‘LORD, please remember how faithful I’ve been to you. I’ve lived the way you wanted me to. I’ve served you with all my heart. I’ve done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.4A message from the LORD came to Isaiah. The LORD said,5‘Go and speak to Hezekiah. Tell him, “The LORD, the God of King David, says, ‘I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. I will add 15 years to your life.6And I will save you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will guard this city.7‘ “ ‘Here is a sign from me. It will show you that I will heal you, just as I promised I would.8The shadow that was made by the sun has gone down ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz. I will make it go back up those ten steps.’ ” ’ So the shadow went back up the ten steps it had gone down.9Here is a song of praise that was written by Hezekiah, the king of Judah. He wrote it after he was ill and had got well again.10I said, ‘I’m enjoying the best years of my life. Must I now go through the gates of death? Will the rest of my years be taken away from me?’11I said, ‘LORD, I’ll never see you again while I’m still alive. I’ll never see people anymore. I’ll never again be with those who live in this world.12My body is like a shepherd’s tent. It has been pulled down and carried off. My life is like a piece of cloth that I’ve rolled up. You have cut it off from the loom. In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.13I waited patiently until sunrise. But like a lion you broke all my bones. In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.14I cried softly like a weak little bird. I sounded like a dove as I mourned. My eyes grew tired as I looked up towards heaven. Lord, my life is in danger. Please come and help me!15‘But what can I say? You have promised to heal me. And you yourself have done it. Once I was proud and bitter. But now I will live the rest of my life free of pride.16Lord, people find the will to live because you keep your promises. And my spirit also finds life in your promises. You brought me back to health. You let me live.17I’m sure it was for my benefit that I suffered such great pain. You love me. You kept me from going down into the pit of death. You have put all my sins behind your back.18People in the grave can’t praise you. Dead people can’t sing praise to you. Those who go down to the grave can’t hope for you to be faithful to them.19It is those who are alive who praise you. And that’s what I’m doing today. Parents tell their children about how faithful you are.20‘The LORD will save me. So we will sing and play music on stringed instruments. We will sing all the days of our lives in the LORD’s temple.’21When Hezekiah was ill, Isaiah had said, ‘Press some figs together. Spread them on a piece of cloth. Apply them to Hezekiah’s boil. Then he’ll get well again.’22At that time Hezekiah had asked, ‘What will the sign be to prove I’ll go up to the LORD’s temple?’ That’s when the LORD had made the shadow go back ten steps.
Isaiah 38
English Standard Version
Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery
1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[1] (2Ki 20:1; 2Ki 20:9; 2Ch 32:24; Isa 1:1)2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,3and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (2Ki 18:5)4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah:5“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.[2] (2Ki 18:2; 2Ki 18:13)6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. (Isa 37:35)7“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised:8Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[3] (2Ki 20:9)9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:10I said, In the middle[4] of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. (Ps 102:24)11I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. (Ps 27:13; Ps 88:5)12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end; (Job 4:20; Job 6:9; Job 7:6; Ps 73:14; 2Co 5:1; Heb 1:12)13I calmed myself[5] until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end. (Ps 30:5; Ps 38:3)14Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! (Ps 69:3; Ps 86:17; Ps 119:122; Isa 59:11; Jer 8:7; Heb 7:22)15What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. (1Ki 21:27)16O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! (De 8:3)17Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. (Ps 103:12; Ps 119:67; Ps 119:75; Mic 7:19)18For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. (Ps 88:10; Ps 115:17; Ec 9:10)19The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness. (De 4:9; De 6:7; Ps 78:3)20The Lord will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord. (2Ki 20:5)21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” (2Ki 20:7)22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”