Isaiah 38:9-20

New American Standard Bible

⁹This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and ^[a]recovery:

¹⁰I said, “^(A)In the middle of my ^[b]life
I am to enter the ^(B)gates of Sheol;
I have been ^(C)deprived of the rest of my years.”
¹¹I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord ^(D)in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
¹²Like a shepherd’s ^(E)tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a ^(F)weaver I ^(G)rolled up my life.
He ^(H)cuts me off from the loom;
From ^(I)day until night You make an end of me.
¹³I composed my soul until morning.
^(J)Like a lion—so He ^(K)breaks all my bones,
From ^(L)day until night You make an end of me.
¹⁴^(M)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I ^(N)moan like a dove;
My ^(O)eyes look wistfully to the heights;
Lord, I am oppressed, be my ^(P)security.

¹⁵“^(Q)What shall I say?
^[c]For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will ^(R)walk ^[d]quietly all my years because of the ^(S)bitterness of my soul.
¹⁶Lord, ^(T)by these things people live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
^[e]^(U)Restore me to health and ^(V)let me live!
¹⁷Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
But You have ^[f]^(W)kept my soul from the pit of ^[g]nothingness,
For You have ^(X)hurled all my sins behind Your back.
¹⁸For ^(Y)Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down ^(Z)to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
¹⁹It is the ^(AA)living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A ^(AB)father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
²⁰The Lord is certain to save me;
So we will ^(AC)play my songs on stringed instruments
^(AD)All the days of our life ^(AE)at the house of the Lord.”