Isaiah 38

1 In tho daies Esechie was sijk `til to the deth; and Isaie, the profete, the sone of Amos, entride to hym, and seide to hym, The Lord seith these thingis, Dispose thi hous, for thou schalt die, and thou schalt not lyue.

In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Set your house in order: for you shall die, and not live.

2 And Esechie turnede his face to the wal, and preiede the Lord, and seide, Lord, Y biseche;

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

3 haue thou mynde, Y biseche, hou Y yede bifore thee in treuthe, and in perfit herte, and Y dide that that was good bifore thin iyen. And Ezechye wept with greet wepyng.

And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4 And the word of the Lord was maad to Isaie, and seide,

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

5 Go thou, and seie to Ezechye, The Lord God of Dauid, thi fadir, seith these thingis, I haue herd thi preier, and Y siy thi teeris. Lo! Y schal adde on thi daies fiftene yeer;

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

6 and Y schal delyuere thee and this citee fro the hond of the kyng of Assiriens, and Y schal defende it.

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

7 Forsothe this schal be to thee a signe of the Lord, that the Lord schal do this word, which he spak.

And this shall be a sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has spoken;

8 Lo! Y schal make the schadewe of lynes, bi which it yede doun in the orologie of Achas, in the sunne, to turne ayen backward bi ten lynes. And the sunne turnede ayen bi ten lynes, bi degrees bi whiche it hadde go doun.

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

9 The scripture of Ezechie, kyng of Juda, whanne he hadde be sijk, and hadde rekyuered of his sikenesse.

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

10 I seide, in the myddil of my daies Y schal go to the yatis of helle. Y souyte the residue of my yeeris; (Sheol h7585)

I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. (Sheol h7585)

11 Y seide, Y schal not se the Lord God in the lond of lyueris; Y schal no more biholde a man, and a dwellere of reste.

I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

12 My generacioun is takun awei, and is foldid togidere fro me, as the tabernacle of scheepherdis is foldid togidere. Mi lijf is kit doun as of a webbe; he kittide doun me, the while Y was wouun yit. Fro the morewtid `til to the euentid thou schalt ende me;

My age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night will you make an end of me.

13 Y hopide til to the morewtid; as a lioun, so he al to-brak alle my boonys. Fro the morewtid til to the euentid thou schalt ende me; as the brid of a swalewe, so Y schal crie;

I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night will you make an end of me.

14 Y schal bithenke as a culuer. Myn iyen biholdynge an hiy, ben maad feble. Lord, Y suffre violence, answere thou for me; what schal Y seie,

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: my eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

15 ether what schal answere to me, whanne `I mysilf haue do? Y schal bithenke to thee alle my yeeris, in the bitternisse of my soule.

What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

16 Lord, if me lyueth so, and the lijf of my spirit is in siche thingis, thou schalt chastise me, and schalt quykene me.

O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so will you recover me, and make me to live.

17 Lo! my bitternesse is moost bittir in pees; forsothe thou hast delyuered my soule, that it perischide not; thou hast caste awey bihynde thi bak alle my synnes.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

18 For not helle schal knowleche to thee, nethir deth schal herie thee; thei that goon doun in to the lake, schulen not abide thi treuthe. (Sheol h7585)

For the grave cannot praise you, death can not celebrate you: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth. (Sheol h7585)

19 A lyuynge man, a lyuynge man, he schal knouleche to thee, as and Y to dai; the fadir schal make knowun thi treuthe to sones.

The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known your truth.

20 Lord, make thou me saaf, and we schulen synge oure salmes in all the daies of oure lijf in the hous of the Lord.

The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

21 And Ysaie comaundide, that thei schulden take a gobet of figus, and make a plaster on the wounde; and it schulde be heelid.

For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover.

22 And Ezechie seide, What signe schal be, that Y schal stie in to the hous of the Lord?

Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?