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2 Kings 20:1-11
New English Translation

Hezekiah is Healed

20 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.[a] The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”[b] 2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you[c] faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,[d] and how I have carried out your will.”[e] Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.[f]

4 Isaiah had not yet left the middle courtyard[g] when the Lord’s message came to him, 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David has said: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow[h] you will go up to the Lord’s temple. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’”[i] 7 Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered[j] and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered.[k]

8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 9 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?”[l] 10 Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it[m] to go back ten steps.” 11 Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord[n] made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.[o]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 20:1 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”
  2. 2 Kings 20:1 tn Heb “will not live.”
  3. 2 Kings 20:3 tn Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254.
  4. 2 Kings 20:3 tn Heb “and with a complete heart.”
  5. 2 Kings 20:3 tn Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”
  6. 2 Kings 20:3 tn Heb “wept with great weeping.”
  7. 2 Kings 20:4 tc “Courtyard” (חָצֵר, khatser) is the reading tradition (Qere) also supported by the LXX, while the written text (Kethib) has הָעִיר (haʿir), “the city.”
  8. 2 Kings 20:5 tn Heb “on the third day.”
  9. 2 Kings 20:6 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
  10. 2 Kings 20:7 tn Heb “and they got [a fig cake].”
  11. 2 Kings 20:7 tn Heb “and he lived.”
  12. 2 Kings 20:9 tn The Hebrew הָלַךְ (halakh, a perfect), “it has moved ahead,” should be emended to הֲיֵלֵךְ (hayelekh, an imperfect with interrogative he [ה] prefixed), “shall it move ahead.”
  13. 2 Kings 20:10 tn Heb “the shadow.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  14. 2 Kings 20:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  15. 2 Kings 20:11 tn Heb “made the shadow return, on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, back ten steps.” sn These steps probably functioned as a type of sundial. See HALOT 614 s.v. מַעֲלָה and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 256.
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2 Kings 20:1-11
Common English Bible

Hezekiah’s illness

20 Around that same time, Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your affairs in order because you are about to die. You won’t survive this.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you in truth and sincerity. I have done what is right in your eyes.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.

4 Isaiah hadn’t even left the middle courtyard of the palace when the Lord’s word came to him: 5 Turn around. Say to Hezekiah, my people’s leader: This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and have seen your tears. So now I’m going to heal you. Three days from now you will be able to go up to the Lord’s temple. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the power of the Assyian king. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.

7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a bandage made of figs.” They did so and put it on the swelling, at which point Hezekiah started getting better.

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I’ll be able to go up to the Lord’s temple in three days?”

9 Isaiah said, “This will be your sign from the Lord that he will make his promise come true: Should the shadow go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”

10 “It’s easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” Hezekiah said, “but not for the shadow to go back ten steps.” 11 So the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, who made the shadow go back ten steps, down the flight of stairs built by Ahaz.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 20:11 Heb uncertain
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2 Kings 21
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