2 Kings 20

1 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the point of dying. So Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, 'Set your house in order; for you will die, and 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 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying,

Then, turning his face to the wall, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying,

3 “Please, Yahweh, call to mind how I have faithfully walked before you with my whole heart, and how I have done what was good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept loudly.

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 Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle courtyard, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying,

Now before Isaiah had gone out of the middle of the town, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor, says: “I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. I am about to heal you on the third day, and you will go up to the house of Yahweh.

Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, 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 make you well: on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord.

6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”'”

I will give you fifteen more years of life; and I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria; I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

7 So Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” They did so and put it on his boil, and he recovered.

Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I should go up to the temple of Yahweh on the third day?”

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What is to be the sign that the Lord will make me well, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?

9 Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign for you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said; will the shade go forward ten degrees or back?

10 Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, let the shadow go backward ten steps.”

And Hezekiah said in answer, It is a simple thing for the shade to go forward; but let it go back ten degrees.

11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to Yahweh, and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, from where it had moved on the stairway of Ahaz.

Then Isaiah the prophet made prayer to the Lord, and he made the shade go back ten degrees from its position on the steps of Ahaz.

12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

At that time, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters with an offering to Hezekiah, because he had news that Hezekiah had been ill.

13 Hezekiah listened to those letters, and then showed the messengers all the palace and his valuable things, the silver, the gold, the spices and precious oil, and the storehouse of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his kingdom, that Hezekiah did not show them.

And Hezekiah was glad at their coming and let them see all his store of wealth, the silver and the gold and the spices and the oil of great price, and the house of his arms, and everything there was in his stores; there was nothing in all his house or his kingdom which Hezekiah did not let them see.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say to you? Where did they come from?” Hezekiah said, “They came from the distant country of Babylon.”

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon.

15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among my valuable things that I have not shown them.”

And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see.

16 So Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of Yahweh:

And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Give ear to the word of the Lord.

17 'Look, the days are about to come when everything in your palace, the things that your ancestors stored away until this present day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says Yahweh.

Truly, days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone, says the Lord.

18 The sons born from you, whom you yourself have fathered—they will take them away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”

And your sons, the offspring of your body, they will take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.

19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not be peace and stability in my days?”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which you have said. Then he said, ... if in my time there is peace and righteousness?

20 As for the other matters concerning Hezekiah, and all his power, and how he constructed the pool and the conduit, and how he brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah?

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his power, and how he made the pool and the stream, to take water into the town, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

21 Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

And Hezekiah went to rest with his fathers; and Manasseh his son became king in his place.