Isaiah 38
Evangelical Heritage Version
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
38 In 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.”
2 So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 He 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.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah.
5 Go 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. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
7 This will be the sign from the Lord to you. The Lord will do what he has promised. 8 Watch! 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.
9 A poem written by Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery.[a]
10 I thought that, only halfway through my life,
I was entering into the gates of death,[b]
deprived of the remaining years of my life.
11 I thought, I will not see the Lord—
the Lord[c] in the land of the living.
I will no longer see anyone among the inhabitants of the world.[d]
12 My 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.[e]
13 I pondered this until the morning.
He will break all my bones like a lion!
From day until night, you make an end of me.
14 I 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.
15 What 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.[f]
16 Lord, people live because you give them life.
My spirit lives through this.[g]
Restore me, and let me live.[h]
17 The 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.
18 The grave[i] cannot thank you.
Death cannot praise you.
Those who go down into the pit cannot trust your faithfulness.
19 The living one, the living one, he praises you, as I do today.
A father tells his children about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
so we will sing songs with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives in the House of the Lord.
21 Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs, apply it as a poultice on the inflamed spot, and he will recover.”
22 Hezekiah had also asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the House of the Lord?”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:9 This poem is not included in 2 Kings.
- Isaiah 38:10 Hebrew sheol
- Isaiah 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.
- Isaiah 38:11 Hebrew variant this passing world
- Isaiah 38:12 Or day, and then night! So quickly you have made an end of me. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- Isaiah 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.
- Isaiah 38:16 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- Isaiah 38:16 Or you restore me, and you let me live!
- Isaiah 38:18 Hebrew sheol
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.