Isaiah 38

¹In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order; for your death is near.

²And Hezekiah, turning his face to the wall, made his prayer to the Lord, saying,

³O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,

⁵Go to Hezekiah, and say, The Lord, the God of David, your father, says, Your prayer has come to my ears, and I have seen your weeping: see, I will give you fifteen more years of life.

⁶And I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria: and I will keep watch over this town.

⁷And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said:

⁸See, I will make the shade which has gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, go back ten steps. So the shade went back the ten steps by which it had gone down.

⁹The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been ill, and had got better from his disease.

¹⁰I said, In the quiet of my days I am going down into the underworld: the rest of my years are being taken away from me.

¹¹I said, I will not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I will not see man again or those living in the world.

¹²My resting-place is pulled up and taken away from me like a herdsman's tent: my life is rolled up like a linen-worker's thread; I am cut off from the cloth on the frame: from day even to night you give me up to pain.

¹³I am crying out with pain till the morning; it is as if a lion was crushing all my bones.

¹⁴I make cries like a bird; I give out sounds of grief like a dove: my eyes are looking up with desire; O Lord, I am crushed, take up my cause.

¹⁵What am I to say? seeing that it is he who has done it: all my time of sleeping I am turning from side to side without rest.

¹⁶O Lord, for this cause I am waiting for you, give rest to my spirit: make me well again, and let me come back to life.

¹⁷See, in place of peace my soul had bitter sorrow. but you have kept back my soul from the underworld; for you have put all my sins out of your memory.

¹⁸For the underworld is not able to give you praise, death gives you no honour: for those who go down into the underworld there is no hope in your mercy.

¹⁹The living, the living man, he will give you praise, as I do this day: the father will give the story of your mercy to his children.

²⁰O Lord, quickly be my saviour; so we will make my songs to corded instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.

²¹And Isaiah said, Let them take a cake of figs, and put it on the diseased place, and he will get well.

²²And Hezekiah said, What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?

Isaiah 38

¹In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. 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 will die, and not live.'"

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

³and said, "Remember now, the Lord, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,

⁵"Go, and tell 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.

⁶I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.

⁷This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has spoken.

⁸Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down."'"

⁹The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness.

¹⁰I said, "In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years."

¹¹I said, "I won't see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

¹²My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.

¹³I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.

¹⁴I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security."

¹⁵What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.

¹⁶Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live.

¹⁷Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

¹⁸For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.

¹⁹The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day. The father shall make known your truth to the children.

²⁰The Lord will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

²¹Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover."

²²Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?"