Isaiah 38

¹In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

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

³And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

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

⁵Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

⁶And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

⁷And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;

⁸Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

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

¹⁰I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

¹¹I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

¹²Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

¹³I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

¹⁴Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

¹⁵What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

¹⁷Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

¹⁸For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

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

²⁰The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

²¹For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

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

Isaiah 38

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

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

³saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,

⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, 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.

⁷This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:

⁸I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.

⁹This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”

¹¹I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world.

¹²My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.

¹³I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.

¹⁴I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

¹⁵What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.

¹⁶O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live.

¹⁷Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

¹⁹The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

²⁰The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.

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

²²And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”