Isaiah 38

1 In those days has Hezekiah been sick to death, and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, comes to him and says to him, “Thus said YHWH: Give a charge to your house, for you [are] dying, and do not live.”

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.’”

2 And Hezekiah turns around his face to the wall, and prays to YHWH,

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

3 and says, “Ah, now, O YHWH, please remember how I have habitually walked before You in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I have done that which [is] good in your eyes”; and Hezekiah weeps [with] a great weeping.

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.

4 And a word of YHWH is to Isaiah, saying,

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

5 “Go, and you have said to Hezekiah, Thus said YHWH, God of your father David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tear, behold, I am adding fifteen years to your days,

“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.

6 and out of the hand of the king of Asshur I deliver you and this city, and have covered over this city.

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

7 And this [is] to you the sign from YHWH, that YHWH does this thing that He has spoken.

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

8 Behold, I am bringing back the shadow of the degrees that it has gone down on the degrees of Ahaz, by the sun, backward ten degrees”; and the sun turns back ten degrees in the degrees that it had gone down.

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.

9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah concerning his being sick when he revives from his sickness:

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

10 “I said in the cutting off of my days, I go to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of my years. (Sheol h7585)

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)

11 I said, I do not see YAH—YAH! In the land of the living, I do not behold man anymore, With the inhabitants of the world.

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.

12 My sojourning has departed, And been removed from me as a shepherd’s tent, I have drawn together, as a weaver, my life, By weakness it cuts me off, From day to night You end me.

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.

13 I have set [Him] as a lion until morning, So He breaks all my bones, From day to night You end me.

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

14 As a crane—a swallow—so I chatter, I mourn as a dove, My eyes have been drawn up on high, O YHWH, oppression [is] on me, be my guarantor.

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.”

15 What do I say? Seeing He spoke to me, And He Himself has worked, I go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.

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.

16 Lord, [men] live by these, And by all in them [is] the life of my spirit, And You save me, make me to also live,

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.

17 Behold, He changed bitterness to peace for me, And You have delighted in my soul without corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

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.

18 For Sheol does not confess You, Death does not praise You, Those going down to the pit do not hope for Your truth. (Sheol h7585)

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

19 The living, the living, he confesses You,

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

20 Like myself today; A father makes known to [his] sons of Your faithfulness, O YHWH—to save me: And we sing my songs all [the] days of our lives In the house of YHWH.”

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

21 And Isaiah says, “Let them take a bunch of figs, and plaster over the ulcer, and he lives.”

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

22 And Hezekiah says, “What [is] the sign that I go up to the house of YHWH?”

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