Isaiah 38

1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, entered to him, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.”

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 And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord.

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

3 And he said: “I beg you, Lord, I beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.

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 say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days.

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 rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.

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 And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word, which he has spoken:

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

8 Behold, I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten lines.” And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through the degrees by which 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 The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had recovered from his sickness:

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

10 “I said: In the middle of my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought 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 not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man, nor the habitation of rest.

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 longevity has been taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver. While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning until evening, you have marked out my limits.

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 hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my limits.

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

14 I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my favor.

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, or what would he answer me, since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all my years, in the bitterness 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, if such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may you correct me and may you cause me to 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 Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. 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 Hell will not confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who descend into the pit will not hope for your truth. (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, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons.

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 O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all the days of our life, 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 ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed.

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 said, “What will be the sign that I may 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?