Isaiah 38

1 In 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.’”

In 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.

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

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

3 saying, “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.

O 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.

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

Then 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.

Go 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.

6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

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

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

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

8 I 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.

See, 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.

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

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

10 I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” (Sheol h7585)

I 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. (Sheol h7585)

11 I 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.

I 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.

12 My 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.

My 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.

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

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

14 I 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.”

I 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.

15 What 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.

What 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.

16 O 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.

O 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.

17 Surely 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.

See, 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.

18 For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. (Sheol h7585)

For 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. (Sheol h7585)

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

The 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.

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

O 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.

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

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

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

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