Add parallel Print Page Options

10 I said, In the noontide of my days
    I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
    for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord
    in the land of the living;
I shall look upon man no more
    among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
    like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
    he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night thou dost bring me to an end;[a]
13     I cry for help[b] until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
    from day to night thou dost bring me to an end.[c]

14 Like a swallow or a crane[d] I clamor,
    I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
    O Lord, I am oppressed; be thou my security!
15 But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
    and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled[e]
    because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, by these things men live,
    and in all these is the life of my spirit.[f]
    Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17 Lo, it was for my welfare
    that I had great bitterness;
but thou hast held back[g] my life
    from the pit of destruction,
for thou hast cast all my sins
    behind thy back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank thee,
    death cannot praise thee;
those who go down to the pit cannot hope
    for thy faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks thee,
    as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
    thy faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
    and we will sing to stringed instruments[h]
all the days of our life,
    at the house of the Lord.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 38:12 Heb uncertain
  2. Isaiah 38:13 Cn: Heb obscure
  3. Isaiah 38:13 Heb uncertain
  4. Isaiah 38:14 Heb uncertain
  5. Isaiah 38:15 Cn Compare Syr: Heb I will walk slowly all my years
  6. Isaiah 38:16 Heb uncertain
  7. Isaiah 38:17 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb loved
  8. Isaiah 38:20 Heb my stringed instruments

Bible Gateway Recommends