Isaiah 38
New American Standard Bible
Hezekiah Healed
38 (A)In those days Hezekiah became [a]mortally ill. And (B)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘(C)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “(D)Please, Lord, just remember how I have (E)walked before You (F)wholeheartedly and in truth, and (G)have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah (H)wept [b]profusely.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add (I)fifteen years to your [c]life. 6 And I will (J)save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.”’
7 “And this shall be the (K)sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform this word that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will (L)make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the (M)sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
9 This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and [d]recovery:
10 I said, “(N)In the middle of my [e]life
I am to enter the (O)gates of Sheol;
I have been (P)deprived of the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord (Q)in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Like a shepherd’s (R)tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a (S)weaver I (T)rolled up my life.
He (U)cuts me off from the loom;
From (V)day until night You make an end of me.
13 I composed my soul until morning.
(W)Like a lion—so He (X)breaks all my bones,
From (Y)day until night You make an end of me.
14 (Z)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I (AA)moan like a dove;
My (AB)eyes look wistfully to the heights;
Lord, I am oppressed, be my (AC)security.
15 “(AD)What shall I say?
[f]For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will (AE)walk [g]quietly all my years because of the (AF)bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, (AG)by these things people live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
[h](AH)Restore me to health and (AI)let me live!
17 Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
But You have [i](AJ)kept my soul from the pit of [j]nothingness,
For You have (AK)hurled all my sins behind Your back.
18 For (AL)Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down (AM)to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 It is the (AN)living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A (AO)father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is certain to save me;
So we will (AP)play my songs on stringed instruments
(AQ)All the days of our life (AR)at the house of the Lord.”
21 Now (AS)Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” 22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the (AT)sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:1 Lit sick to death
- Isaiah 38:3 Lit great weeping
- Isaiah 38:5 Lit days
- Isaiah 38:9 Lit he lived after his illness
- Isaiah 38:10 Lit days
- Isaiah 38:15 Targum and DSS And what shall I say for He
- Isaiah 38:15 Or slowly
- Isaiah 38:16 Lit You will
- Isaiah 38:17 As in some ancient versions; MT loved
- Isaiah 38:17 Or destruction
Isaiah 38
Names of God Bible
Hezekiah’s Illness(A)
38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came to him and said, “This is what Yahweh says: Give final instructions to your household, because you’re about to die. You won’t get well.”
2 Hezekiah turned to the wall and prayed to Yahweh. 3 “Please, Yahweh, remember how I’ve lived faithfully and sincerely in your presence. I’ve done what you consider right.” And he cried bitterly.
4 Then Yahweh spoke his word to Isaiah, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of your ancestor David says: I’ve heard your prayer. I’ve seen your tears. I’m going to give you 15 more years to live. 6 I’ll rescue you and defend this city from the control of the king of Assyria.’”
21 [a] Then Isaiah said, “Take a fig cake, and place it over the boil so that the king will get well.”
22 Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I’ll go to Yahweh’s temple?”
7 Isaiah said, “This is your sign from Yahweh that he will do what he promises. 8 The sun made a shadow that went down the stairway of Ahaz’s upper palace. I’m going to make the shadow go back ten steps.” So the sun on the stairway went back up the ten steps it had gone down.
9 King Hezekiah of Judah wrote this after he was sick and became well again:
10 I thought that in the prime of my life
I would go down to the gates of Sheol
and be robbed of the rest of my life.
11 I thought that I wouldn’t see Yah in this world.
Even with all the people in the world,
I thought I would never see another person.
12 My life was over.
You rolled it up like a shepherd’s tent.
You rolled up my life like a weaver.
You cut me off from the loom.
You ended my life in one day.
13 I cried out until morning
as if a lion had crushed all my bones.
You ended my life in one day.
14 I chirped like swallows and cranes.
I cooed like doves.
My eyes were tired from looking up to heaven.
I’ve suffered miserably, O Adonay!
Please help me!
15 What can I say now that he has spoken to me?
He has done this.
I will be careful the rest of my life because of my bitter experience.[b]
16 Adonay, people live in spite of such things,
and I have the will to live in spite of them.
You give me health and keep me alive.
17 Now my bitter experience turns into peace.
You have saved me and kept me from the rotting pit.
You have thrown all my sins behind you.
18 Sheol doesn’t thank you!
Death doesn’t praise you!
Those who go down to the pit cannot expect you to be faithful.
19 Those who are living praise you as I do today.
Fathers make your faithfulness known to their children.
20 Yahweh is going to rescue me,
so let us play stringed instruments.
We live our lives in Yahweh’s temple.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:21 Verses 21 and 22 have been placed after verse 6 to communicate the order of the account more clearly in English. According to most scholars, if these verses were originally in Isaiah 38, they most likely ended up being misplaced. See 2 Kings 20:7–8 for the proper placement of these verses in the narrative.
- Isaiah 38:15 Hebrew meaning of this line uncertain.
以赛亚书 38
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
希西迦患病
38 那些日子，希西迦病危，亚摩斯的儿子以赛亚先知前来对他说：“耶和华说，‘你要交待后事，因为你要死了，你的病不能康复。’” 2 希西迦把脸转向墙，向耶和华祷告，说： 3 “耶和华啊，求你顾念我怎样全心、忠诚地事奉你，做你视为善的事。”希西迦痛哭起来。 4 耶和华对以赛亚说： 5 “你去告诉希西迦，‘你祖先大卫的上帝耶和华说，我听见了你的祷告，也看见了你的眼泪，我要使你的寿命增加十五年。 6 我要从亚述王手中拯救你和这城，我要保护这城。’” 21 [a]以赛亚说：“拿一块无花果饼贴在王的疮上，他就会痊愈。” 22 希西迦问：“有什么兆头能证明我可以再上耶和华的殿吗？” 7 以赛亚说：“耶和华要给你一个预兆，以证明祂言出必行。 8 祂要使亚哈斯日晷上的日影后退十度。”果然，日影后退了十度。
9 犹大王希西迦病愈后，
写了一首诗：
10 “我以为自己盛年之际，
就要踏入阴间之门，
不能享受余年。
11 我以为再也见不到耶和华，
在世间再不能见到祂，
也不能再见到世人。
12 我的生命像牧人的帐篷一样被拆走，
像织布机上的布匹一样被剪断。
一日之间，祂使我的生命嘎然而止。
13 我整夜哀号，
好像被狮子咬断了全身的骨头。
一日之间，祂使我的生命嘎然而止。
14 “我像燕、鹤一样哀鸣，
像鸽子一样呻吟；
我举目望天，双眼疲倦。
耶和华啊！
我困苦不堪，求你保护我。
15 我能说什么呢？
祂对我说的，祂都亲自成就了。
因为心灵的苦痛，我要一生谨慎而行。
16 “主啊，你的管教使人存活，
使我的心灵有活力。
主啊，求你使我身体复原，
让我存活。
17 其实我受大苦对我有益。
你施慈爱，从死亡的深坑中拯救我的生命，
将我一切罪恶抛在你背后。
18 阴间不能称谢你，
死亡不能赞美你，
下坟墓的人不能仰望你的信实。
19 只有活着的人才能像我今天这样赞美你，
并且把你的信实告诉下一代。
20 “耶和华必救我，
我们要一生一世在祂殿中弹琴歌唱。”
Footnotes
- 38:21-22 这两节在原文抄本是放在本章末尾，不过这可能是在誊抄过程中放错位置。其实这两节经文放在6节和7节之间最为自然，就如在列王纪下一样，参见列王纪下20:7-8。
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