2 Kings 20

1 In those days, was Hezekiah sick, unto death, —and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came unto him, and said unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh Set in order thy house, for, about to die, thou, art, and shalt not recover.

About that time, Hezekiah became very ill. [He thought that he] was about to die. Isaiah the prophet came to him and said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You should tell the people in your palace what you want them to do after you die, because you are not going to recover from this illness. You are going to die.’”

2 Then he turned his face unto the wall, —and prayed unto Yahweh, saying:

Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed,

3 I beseech thee, O Yahweh, remember, I pray thee, how I have walked before thee, in truth, and with a whole heart, and, that which is good in thine eyes, have I done! And Hezekiah wept aloud.

“Yahweh, do not forget that I have always served you faithfully, and I have done things that pleased you.” Then Hezekiah started to cry loudly.

4 And it came to pass that Isaiah, had not gone out into the middle court, when the word of Yahweh came unto him, saying:

Isaiah left the king, but before he had crossed the middle courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave him a message

5 Return, and thou shalt say unto Hezekiah the leader of my people—Thus, saith Yahweh, God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, —Behold me! about to heal thee, On the third day, shalt thou go up unto the house of Yahweh;

which said, “Go back to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, and say to him, ‘I, Yahweh, the God whom your ancestor King David [worshiped], have heard what you prayed. And I have seen your tears. So, listen: I will heal you. Two days from now you will [be able to] go up to my temple.

6 And I will add unto thy days, fifteen years, and, out of the hand of the king of Assyria, will I deliver thee, and this city, —and will throw a covering over this city, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

I will enable you to live for 15 more years. And I will rescue you and this city again from the power [MTY] of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well].’”

7 And Isaiah said—Take ye a cake of figs. So they took and laid it upon the boil, and he recovered,

So Isaiah [returned to the palace and told Hezekiah what Yahweh had said. Then he] [to Hezekiah’s servants], “Bring a paste made of boiled figs. Put some of it on his boil, and he will get well.”

8 Now Hezekiah had said unto Isaiah, What sign is there, that Yahweh will heal me, —and that I shall go up on the third day, to the house of Yahweh?

Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What will Yahweh do to prove that he will heal me and that two days from now I will be able to go up to the temple?”

9 And Isaiah said, —This unto thee, is the sign from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing which he hath spoken, The shadow hath gone forward ten steps, shall it return ten steps?

Isaiah replied, “Yahweh will do something that will prove to you that he will do what he promised. Do you want him to cause the shadow on the stairway/sundial to go back ten steps/degrees, or to go forward ten steps/degrees?”

10 And Hezekiah said—It is, a light thing, for the shadow, to decline ten steps, —Nay, but let the shadow go back ten steps.

Hezekiah replied, “It is easy to cause the shadow to move forward, [because that is what it always does]. Tell him to cause it to move backward ten steps/degrees.”

11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh, and he caused the shadow on the steps by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz to go back, ten steps.

So Isaiah prayed earnestly to Yahweh, and Yahweh caused the shadow to go backward ten steps/degrees on the stairway/sundial that King Ahaz had made (OR, that workers had built for King Ahaz).

12 At that time, Berodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present, unto Hezekiah, —for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

At that time, King Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan the [previous] King of Babylonia, heard a report that King Hezekiah had been very sick. So he wrote some letters and gave them to some messengers to take to Hezekiah, along with a gift.

13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all his house of precious things—the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and his armoury, and all that was found among his treasures, —there was, nothing, that Hezekiah shewed them not, in his house or in all his dominion.

[When the messengers arrived], Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. Then he showed them everything that was in his (treasure houses/places where very valuable things were stored)—the silver and gold, the spices, the nice-smelling olive oil, and all the weapons [for his soldiers]. He showed them all the [valuable] things in his storerooms and everywhere else in his kingdom [HYP]; he showed them everything.

14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, —and said unto him—What said these men, and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, From a land far off, came they—from Babylon.

Then the prophet Isaiah went to Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country very far from here. They came from Babylonia.”

15 And he said—What have they seen in thy house? Then said Hezekiah—All that is in my house, have they seen, there was, nothing, that I shewed them not, among my treasures.

Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They saw everything. I showed them absolutely everything that I own—all my valuable things.”

16 Then said Isaiah unto Hezekiah, —Hear thou the word of Yahweh:

[Isaiah knew that Hezekiah had done a very foolish thing]. So Isaiah said to him, “Listen to what Yahweh says to you.

17 Lo! days are coming, when all that is in thine house, and that thy fathers have treasured up, unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon, —nothing shall be left, saith Yahweh;

There will be a time when everything that is still in your palace, all the valuable things that were put there by you and your ancestors, will be carried away to Babylon. There will be nothing left here! [That is what] Yahweh says [to you]

18 and, of thy sons who shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away, —and they shall become eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Furthermore, some of your own descendants will be forced to go there, and they will be castrated in order that they may become servants in the palace of the King of Babylon.”

19 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah—Good, is the word of Yahweh, which thou hast spoken. And he said—Is it not, that, peace and stability, there shall be in my days?

Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “That message from Yahweh that you have given to me is good.” He said that because he was thinking, “Even if that happens, there will be peace and security [in Israel] all the rest of my life.”

20 Now, the rest of the story of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool and an aqueduct, and brought water into the city, are, they, not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

[If you want to know more about] [RHQ] all the other things that Hezekiah did, about his brave deeds in battle, about his ordering a reservoir to be built in the city and a tunnel [to be dug] to bring water into the reservoir, they are all written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

21 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and, Manasseh his son, reigned, in his stead.

Later Hezekiah died [EUP], and his son Manasseh became the king.