20 In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.’”

² Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³ “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg 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 bitterly.

⁴ Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, ⁵ “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to Yahweh’s house. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”

⁷ Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.”

They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. ⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?”

⁹ Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”

¹¹ Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

¹² At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, even from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶ Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear Yahweh’s word. ¹⁷ ‘Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh. ¹⁸ ‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Yahweh’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?”

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

2 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, ³ how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴ God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?

⁵ For he didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels. ⁶ But one has somewhere testified, saying,

For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t see all things subjected to him, yet. ⁹ But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. ¹⁰ For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,^{[b] 12} saying,

¹³ Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”Isaiah 8:18 ¹⁴ Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶ For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring^[c] of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.

A contemplation by Asaph.