Isaiah 38

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)

²Hezekiah 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.

⁴Then 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. ⁶And 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: ⁸I 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)

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰I 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)”
¹¹I 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.
¹²Like 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.
¹³I 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.
¹⁴I 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)

¹⁵But 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)
¹⁶Lord, by such things people live;
    and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
    and let me live.^(AK)
¹⁷Surely 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)
¹⁸For 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.
¹⁹The living, the living—they praise^(AT) you,
    as I am doing today;
parents tell their children^(AU)
    about your faithfulness.

²⁰The 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.

²¹Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

²²Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign^(AZ) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”

2 Corinthians 11-12

New International Version

Paul and the False Apostles

11 I hope you will put up with^(A) me in a little foolishness.^(B) Yes, please put up with me! ²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband,^(C) to Christ, so that I might present you^(D) as a pure virgin to him. ³But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,^(E) your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,^(F) or if you receive a different spirit^(G) from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel^(H) from the one you accepted, you put up with it^(I) easily enough.

⁵I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”^[a]^(J) ⁶I may indeed be untrained as a speaker,^(K) but I do have knowledge.^(L) We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. ⁷Was it a sin^(M) for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God^(N) to you free of charge?^(O) ⁸I robbed other churches by receiving support from them^(P) so as to serve you. ⁹And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed.^(Q) I have kept myself from being a burden to you^(R) in any way, and will continue to do so. ¹⁰As surely as the truth of Christ is in me,^(S) nobody in the regions of Achaia^(T) will stop this boasting^(U) of mine. ¹¹Why? Because I do not love you? God knows^(V) I do!^(W)

¹²And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. ¹³For such people are false apostles,^(X) deceitful^(Y) workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.^(Z) ¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan^(AA) himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.^(AB)

Paul Boasts About His Sufferings

¹⁶I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.^(AC) But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. ¹⁷In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would,^(AD) but as a fool.^(AE) ¹⁸Since many are boasting in the way the world does,^(AF) I too will boast.^(AG) ¹⁹You gladly put up with^(AH) fools since you are so wise!^(AI) ²⁰In fact, you even put up with^(AJ) anyone who enslaves you^(AK) or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. ²¹To my shame I admit that we were too weak^(AL) for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.^(AM) ²²Are they Hebrews? So am I.^(AN) Are they Israelites? So am I.^(AO) Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.^(AP) ²³Are they servants of Christ?^(AQ) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,^(AR) been in prison more frequently,^(AS) been flogged more severely,^(AT) and been exposed to death again and again.^(AU) ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes^(AV) minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods,^(AW) once I was pelted with stones,^(AX) three times I was shipwrecked,^(AY) I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews,^(AZ) in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,^(BA) in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.^(BB) ²⁷I have labored and toiled^(BC) and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;^(BD) I have been cold and naked. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.^(BE) ²⁹Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?^(BF) Who is led into sin,^(BG) and I do not inwardly burn?

³⁰If I must boast, I will boast^(BH) of the things that show my weakness.^(BI) ³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever,^(BJ) knows^(BK) that I am not lying. ³²In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.^(BL) ³³But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.^(BM)

Paul’s Vision and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting.^(BN) Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations^(BO) from the Lord. ²I know a man in Christ^(BP) who fourteen years ago was caught up^(BQ) to the third heaven.^(BR) Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.^(BS) ³And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— ⁴was caught up^(BT) to paradise^(BU) and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. ⁵I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.^(BV) ⁶Even if I should choose to boast,^(BW) I would not be a fool,^(BX) because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, ⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations.^(BY) Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh,^(BZ) a messenger of Satan,^(CA) to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.^(CB) ⁹But he said to me, “My grace^(CC) is sufficient for you, for my power^(CD) is made perfect in weakness.^(CE)”^(CF) Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight^(CG) in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,^(CH) in persecutions,^(CI) in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.^(CJ)

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians

¹¹I have made a fool of myself,^(CK) but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,”^[b]^(CL) even though I am nothing.^(CM) ¹²I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.^(CN) ¹³How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you?^(CO) Forgive me this wrong!^(CP)

¹⁴Now I am ready to visit you for the third time,^(CQ) and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents,^(CR) but parents for their children.^(CS) ¹⁵So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.^(CT) If I love you more,^(CU) will you love me less? ¹⁶Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you.^(CV) Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! ¹⁷Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? ¹⁸I urged^(CW) Titus^(CX) to go to you and I sent our brother^(CY) with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God^(CZ) as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends,^(DA) is for your strengthening.^(DB) ²⁰For I am afraid that when I come^(DC) I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.^(DD) I fear that there may be discord,^(DE) jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,^(DF) slander,^(DG) gossip,^(DH) arrogance^(DI) and disorder.^(DJ) ²¹I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved^(DK) over many who have sinned earlier^(DL) and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery^(DM) in which they have indulged.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 11:5 Or to the most eminent apostles
2 Corinthians 12:11 Or the most eminent apostles

Psalm 78:1-31

New International Version

Psalm 78

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

¹My people, hear my teaching;^(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth with a parable;^(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
³things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.^(C)
⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;^(D)
    we will tell the next generation^(E)
the praiseworthy deeds^(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders^(G) he has done.
⁵He decreed statutes^(H) for Jacob^(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
⁶so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,^(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget^(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.^(L)
⁸They would not be like their ancestors^(M)—
    a stubborn^(N) and rebellious^(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(Q)
¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant^(R)
    and refused to live by his law.^(S)
¹¹They forgot what he had done,^(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹²He did miracles^(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(V) in the region of Zoan.^(W)
¹³He divided the sea^(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(Y)
¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(Z)
¹⁵He split the rocks^(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin^(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸They willfully put God to the test^(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(AD)
¹⁹They spoke against God;^(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(AG) for his people?”
²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²²for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(AI) in his deliverance.
²³Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(AJ)
²⁴he rained down manna^(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶He let loose the east wind^(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(AM) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹They ate till they were gorged—^(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(AO)
³¹God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.