Font Size
Isaiah 38-40
New King James Version
Isaiah 38-40
New King James Version
Hezekiah’s Life Extended(A)
38 In (B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: (C)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, (D)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a [a]loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your (E)sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and (F)I will defend this city.” ’ 7 And this is (G)the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said,
“In the prime of my life
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11 I said,
“I shall not see [b]Yah,
The Lord (H)in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more [c]among the inhabitants of [d]the world.
12 (I)My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have cut off 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 considered until morning—
Like a lion,
So He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;
(J)I mourned like a dove;
My eyes fail from looking upward.
O [e]Lord, I am oppressed;
[f]Undertake for me!
15 “What shall I say?
[g]He has both spoken to me,
And He Himself has done it.
I shall walk carefully all my years
(K)In the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live;
And in all these things is the life of my spirit;
So You will restore me and make me live.
17 Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 For (L)Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
19 The living, the living man, he shall praise You,
As I do this day;
(M)The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
20 “The Lord was ready to save me;
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”
21 Now (N)Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22 And (O)Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
The Babylonian Envoys(P)
39 At (Q)that time [h]Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 (R)And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a (S)far country, from Babylon.”
4 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming (T)when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And they shall take away some of your (U)sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, (V)“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”
God’s People Are Comforted(W)
40 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak [i]comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
(X)For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 (Y)The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(Z)“Prepare the way of the Lord;
(AA)Make straight [j]in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
(AB)The crooked places shall be made [k]straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The (AC)glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And [l]he said, “What shall I cry?”
(AD)“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But (AE)the word of our God stands forever.”
9 O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come [m]with a strong hand,
And (AF)His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, (AG)His reward is with Him,
And His [n]work before Him.
11 He will (AH)feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
12 (AI)Who has measured the [o]waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a [p]span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
13 (AJ)Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And (AK)taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as (AL)nothing,
And (AM)they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18 To whom then will you (AN)liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 (AO)The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such [q]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
(AP)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 (AQ)Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who (AR)stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a (AS)tent to dwell in.
23 He [r]brings the (AT)princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To(AU) whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
(AV)He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 (AW)Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
(AX)His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who (AY)wait on the Lord
(AZ)Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:3 whole or peaceful
- Isaiah 38:11 Heb. Yah, Yah
- Isaiah 38:11 LXX omits among the inhabitants of the world
- Isaiah 38:11 So with some Heb. mss.; MT, Vg. rest; Tg. land
- Isaiah 38:14 So with Bg.; MT, DSS Lord
- Isaiah 38:14 Be my surety
- Isaiah 38:15 So with MT, Vg.; DSS, Tg. And shall I say to Him; LXX omits first half of this verse
- Isaiah 39:1 Berodach-Baladan, 2 Kin. 20:12
- Isaiah 40:2 Lit. to the heart of
- Isaiah 40:3 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX omits in the desert
- Isaiah 40:4 Or a plain
- Isaiah 40:6 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, LXX, Vg. I
- Isaiah 40:10 in strength
- Isaiah 40:10 recompense
- Isaiah 40:12 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; DSS adds of the sea; Tg. adds of the world
- Isaiah 40:12 A span .5 cubit, 9 inches; or the width of His hand
- Isaiah 40:20 an offering
- Isaiah 40:23 reduces
Isaiah 38-40
New International Version
Isaiah 38-40
New International Version
Hezekiah’s Illness(A)
38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz(B) went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,(C) because you are going to die; you will not recover.”(D)
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked(E) before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion(F) and have done what is good in your eyes.(G)” And Hezekiah wept(H) bitterly.
4 Then the word(I) of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,(J) says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;(K) I will add fifteen years(L) to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(M) this city.
7 “‘This is the Lord’s sign(N) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.(O)
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the prime of my life(P)
must I go through the gates of death(Q)
and be robbed of the rest of my years?(R)”
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself(S)
in the land of the living;(T)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent(U) my house
has been pulled down(V) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(W) up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;(X)
day and night(Y) you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently(Z) till dawn,
but like a lion he broke(AA) all my bones;(AB)
day and night(AC) you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.(AD)
My eyes grew weak(AE) as I looked to the heavens.
I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”(AF)
15 But what can I say?(AG)
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.(AH)
I will walk humbly(AI) all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.(AJ)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.(AK)
17 Surely it was for my benefit(AL)
that I suffered such anguish.(AM)
In your love you kept me
from the pit(AN) of destruction;
you have put all my sins(AO)
behind your back.(AP)
18 For the grave(AQ) cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;(AR)
those who go down to the pit(AS)
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise(AT) you,
as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(AU)
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will sing(AV) with stringed instruments(AW)
all the days of our lives(AX)
in the temple(AY) of the Lord.
21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(AZ) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”
Envoys From Babylon(BA)
39 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon(BB) sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys(BC) gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold,(BD) the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures.(BE) There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,(BF)” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word(BG) of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.(BH) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.(BI)”
8 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,(BJ)” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.(BK)”
Comfort for God’s People
40 Comfort, comfort(BL) my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly(BM) to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service(BN) has been completed,(BO)
that her sin has been paid for,(BP)
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double(BQ) for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way(BR) for the Lord[a];
make straight(BS) in the desert
a highway for our God.[b](BT)
4 Every valley shall be raised up,(BU)
every mountain and hill(BV) made low;
the rough ground shall become level,(BW)
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory(BX) of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.(BY)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”(BZ)
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,(CA)
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers(CB) and the flowers fall,
because the breath(CC) of the Lord blows(CD) on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers(CE) fall,
but the word(CF) of our God endures(CG) forever.(CH)”
9 You who bring good news(CI) to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c](CJ)
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(CK)
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes(CL) with power,(CM)
and he rules(CN) with a mighty arm.(CO)
See, his reward(CP) is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:(CQ)
He gathers the lambs in his arms(CR)
and carries them close to his heart;(CS)
he gently leads(CT) those that have young.(CU)
12 Who has measured the waters(CV) in the hollow of his hand,(CW)
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?(CX)
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?(CY)
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d](CZ) of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?(DA)
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,(DB)
or showed him the path of understanding?(DC)
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;(DD)
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.(DE)
16 Lebanon(DF) is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals(DG) enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations(DH) are as nothing;(DI)
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.(DJ)
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?(DK)
To what image(DL) will you liken him?
19 As for an idol,(DM) a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith(DN) overlays it with gold(DO)
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood(DP) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol(DQ) that will not topple.(DR)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(DS)
Has it not been told(DT) you from the beginning?(DU)
Have you not understood(DV) since the earth was founded?(DW)
22 He sits enthroned(DX) above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.(DY)
He stretches out the heavens(DZ) like a canopy,(EA)
and spreads them out like a tent(EB) to live in.(EC)
23 He brings princes(ED) to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(EE)
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root(EF) in the ground,
than he blows(EG) on them and they wither,(EH)
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(EI)
25 “To whom will you compare me?(EJ)
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(EK)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(EL)
Who created(EM) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(EN) one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(EO)
not one of them is missing.(EP)
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?(EQ)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(ER)
The Lord is the everlasting(ES) God,
the Creator(ET) of the ends of the earth.(EU)
He will not grow tired or weary,(EV)
and his understanding no one can fathom.(EW)
29 He gives strength(EX) to the weary(EY)
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men(EZ) stumble and fall;(FA)
31 but those who hope(FB) in the Lord
will renew their strength.(FC)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(FD)
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.(FE)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one calling in the wilderness: / “Prepare the way for the Lord
- Isaiah 40:3 Hebrew; Septuagint make straight the paths of our God
- Isaiah 40:9 Or Zion, bringer of good news, / go up on a high mountain. / Jerusalem, bringer of good news
- Isaiah 40:13 Or mind
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.