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Isaiah 38
New International Version
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)
2 Hezekiah 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.
4 Then 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. 6 And 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: 8 I 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)
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I 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)”
11 I 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.
12 Like 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.
13 I 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.
14 I 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)
15 But 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)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.(AK)
17 Surely 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)
18 For 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.
19 The living, the living—they praise(AT) you,
as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(AU)
about your faithfulness.
20 The 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.
21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(AZ) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”
Isaiah 38
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Isaiah 38
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
38 In those days King Hezekiah of Judah became ill and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.(A)
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord
3 And said, Remember [earnestly] now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in faithfulness and in truth, with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will [a]add to your life fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].
7 And this will be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:
8 Behold, I will turn the shadow [denoting the time of day] on the steps or degrees, which has gone down on the steps or sundial of Ahaz, backward ten steps or degrees. And the sunlight turned back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, In the noontide and tranquillity of my days I must depart; I am to pass through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead), deprived of the remainder of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My [fleshly] dwelling is plucked up and is removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web]; [the Lord] cuts me free from the loom; from day to night You bring me to an end.
13 I thought and quieted myself until morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day to night You bring me to an end.
14 Like a twittering swallow or a crane, so do I chirp and chatter; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary and dim with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; take my side and be my security [as of a debtor being sent to prison].
15 But what can I say? For He has both spoken to me and He Himself has done it. I must go softly [as in solemn procession] all my years and my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live; and in all these is the life of my spirit. O give me back my health and make me live!
17 Behold, it was for my peace that I had intense bitterness; but You have loved back my life from the pit of corruption and nothingness, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol (the place of the dead) cannot confess and reach out the hand to You, death cannot praise and rejoice in You; they who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness [to Your promises; their probation is at an end, their destiny is sealed].
19 The living, the living—they shall thank and praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known to the children Your faithfulness and Your truth.
20 The Lord is ready to save (deliver) me; therefore we will sing my songs with [my] stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.
21 Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, that he may recover.
22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:5 God’s time for Hezekiah to die had come (Isa. 38:1), but he had no son. It was unthinkable to him, apparently, that he should die and leave no heir to his throne. As devout as he was, he could not trust the Lord to give His faithful servant what was best for him. So he took matters into his own hands and begged to be allowed to live on. The Lord granted his request—sons were born. How immense the grief that resulted! One of his sons, Manasseh, became Hezekiah’s disgraceful and ruthless successor, not for just a few years, but for fifty-five! (II Kings 21:1ff.) He undid everything reformatory that had been done, established idol worship, caused his son to go through the fire as an offering to the pagan god, defied God’s prophets, and caused the slaughter of those who opposed him (including perhaps Isaiah, his father’s best friend who, according to Jewish tradition, was sawed in half during Manasseh’s reign). How little Hezekiah knew of what was best for him or for Judah! How presumptuous is anyone who demands that his own shortsighted vision replace the wisdom of God’s plan for his own life or for that of others! See also footnote on II Kings 20:6.
Isaías 38
Palabra de Dios para Todos
Isaías 38
Palabra de Dios para Todos
Ezequías se enferma
(2 R 20:1-11; 2 Cr 32:24-26)
38 En esos días Ezequías se enfermó y estuvo al borde de la muerte. El profeta Isaías hijo de Amoz fue a ver a Ezequías y le dijo:
—El SEÑOR dice: “Pon tus asuntos en orden, porque vas a morir; no vas a sanar”.
2 Ezequías se dio vuelta con la cara hacia la pared y oró así al SEÑOR: 3 «SEÑOR, recuerda que yo siempre te he servido de todo corazón y he hecho lo que te agradaba». Y Ezequías lloró amargamente. 4 Isaías recibió este mensaje del SEÑOR: 5 «Ve y dile a Ezequías: “Esto dice el SEÑOR, el Dios de tu antepasado David: He oído tu oración y he visto tus lágrimas. He añadido 15 años a tu vida. 6 Te salvaré a ti y a esta ciudad del poder del rey de Asiria y defenderé esta ciudad. 7 Esta será la señal del SEÑOR que el SEÑOR hará para ti, para que te des cuenta de que él hará lo que te dice: 8 Fíjate, voy a hacer que la sombra del sol en el reloj de sol de Acaz retroceda diez escalones[a]”». Y el sol retrocedió diez escalones que ya había recorrido. 9 Este es el salmo que el rey Ezequías compuso cuando sanó de su enfermedad:
10 «Yo pensé: “Debo irme en la mejor edad,
estoy destinado a pasar el resto de mis años en el lugar de los muertos”.
11 Me dije: “No voy a ver al SEÑOR
en el mundo de los vivos,
no voy a volver a ver a ninguno
de los que viven en este mundo.
12 Me quitan la vida,
levantan mi habitación como carpa de pastor.
Como hace un tejedor, enrollé mi vida,
pero él me corta del hilo del tejido.
Acabaste conmigo de la noche a la mañana”.
13 »Yo pedí ayuda toda la noche.
Él quebrantó todos mis huesos como hace un león.
Acabaste conmigo de la noche a la mañana.
14 Gorjeo como golondrina, como grulla.
Gimo como una paloma.
Mis ojos se cansan de mirar hacia arriba.
Dios mío, estoy muy mal, ayúdame.
15 ¿Qué puedo decirle si él me lo dijo,
él es quien me ha hecho esto?
Caminaré despacio todos los días de mi vida
por la amargura de mi corazón.
16 »Señor, por todo esto es que la gente vive
y en todo esto mi espíritu se siente revivir.
¡Dame salud y hazme vivir!
17 Mira, tuve tal angustia,
pero fue por mi bien.
Tú salvaste mi vida del sepulcro,
porque perdonaste todos mis pecados.
18 En el lugar de los muertos no se te puede agradecer;
los muertos no te pueden alabar.
Los que van al sepulcro
no pueden confiar en tu fidelidad.
19 Son los que están vivos, los que tienen vida,
quienes pueden darte gracias,
como yo lo hago hoy.
Los padres enseñan a sus hijos
acerca de tu fidelidad.
20 El SEÑOR me salva,
así que todos los días de nuestra vida
tocaremos instrumentos de cuerda
en el templo del SEÑOR».
21 Ahora bien, Isaías había dicho:
—Hagan una crema de higos, aplíquensela en la llaga y él se recuperará.
22 Ezequías también había dicho:
—¿Qué señal tendré de que podré subir al templo del SEÑOR?[b]
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