Isaiah 38
American Standard Version
38 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, 3 and said, Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4 Then came the word of Jehovah to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken: 8 behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the [a]dial of Ahaz [b]with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps [c]on the dial whereon it was gone down.
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10 I said, In the [d]noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol:
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see [e]Jehovah, even [f]Jehovah in the land of the living:
I shall behold man no more [g]with the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd’s tent:
I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the [h]loom:
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13 [i]I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones:
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter;
I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward:
O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it:
I shall go [j]softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live;
And wholly therein is the life of my spirit:
[k]Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
17 Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness:
But [l]thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of [m]corruption;
For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18 For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee:
They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:
The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 Jehovah is ready to save me:
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah.
21 Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. 22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:8 Hebrew steps.
- Isaiah 38:8 Or, by
- Isaiah 38:8 Or, by which steps it etc.
- Isaiah 38:10 Or, tranquility
- Isaiah 38:11 Hebrew Jah.
- Isaiah 38:11 Hebrew Jah.
- Isaiah 38:11 Or, when I am among them that have ceased to be
- Isaiah 38:12 Hebrew thrum.
- Isaiah 38:13 Or, I thought until morning, As a lion, so will he break etc.
- Isaiah 38:15 Or, as in solemn procession. See Ps. 42:4.
- Isaiah 38:16 Or, So wilt thou recover me
- Isaiah 38:17 Hebrew thou hast loved my soul from the pit.
- Isaiah 38:17 Or, nothingness
Isaiah 38
Lexham English Bible
Hezekiah’s Illness
38 In those days, Hezekiah became sick to death, and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Order your house, for you are about to die, and you shall not recover.’” 2 Then[a] Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, 3 and he said, “O Yahweh, please remember how[b] I have walked before your presence[c] in faithfulness with a whole heart, and I have done the good in your eyes!” And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.
4 Then[d] the word of Yahweh came[e] to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor:[f] “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to[g] add fifteen years to your days. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’
7 And this is the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken: 8 Look! I will cause the shadow of the steps, which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, to turn backwards ten steps.” And the sun turned back ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.
9 A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I was the one who said, “I must go in the quiet of my days;
I am summoned through the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I shall not see Yah! Yah in the land of the living!
I shall no more look at humankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling place is pulled up and removed from me like the tent of my shepherd;
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the thrum;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
13 I lie down[h] until morning;
like a lion, so he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like a horse or a crane, so I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weak toward the height.
Lord, I have oppression; lend me support!
15 What can I say? For[i] he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I will walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, they live by them, and the life of my spirit belongs to all among them.
And restore me to health and keep me alive!
17 Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace.
And you were the one who loved[j] my life from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18 For Sheol cannot praise you; death cannot praise you.
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living one praises you like me today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
20 Yahweh, save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the temple[k] of Yahweh.”
21 And Isaiah said, “Let them take[l] a lump of figs, and let them rub it on the boil so that[m] he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple[n] of Yahweh?”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:2 Or “And”
- Isaiah 38:3 Or “that”
- Isaiah 38:3 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 38:4 Or “And”
- Isaiah 38:4 Or “was”
- Isaiah 38:5 Or “father”
- Isaiah 38:5 Literally, “Behold me; he will add,” but in this context it makes better sense to change the “he” to “I”; most translations follow this emendation
- Isaiah 38:13 Or “cry out”
- Isaiah 38:15 Or “And”
- Isaiah 38:17 Or possibly “kept back,” which sounds similar in Hebrew
- Isaiah 38:20 Or “house”
- Isaiah 38:21 Literally “lift up”
- Isaiah 38:21 Or “and”
- Isaiah 38:22 Or “house”
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