Isaiah 38-40

New American Standard Bible

Hezekiah Healed

38 ^(A)In those days Hezekiah became ^[a]mortally ill. And ^(B)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(C)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³and said, “^(D)Please, Lord, just remember how I have ^(E)walked before You ^(F)wholeheartedly and in truth, and ^(G)have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah ^(H)wept ^[b]profusely.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add ^(I)fifteen years to your ^[c]life. ⁶And I will ^(J)save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.”’

⁷“And this shall be the ^(K)sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform this word that He has spoken: ⁸Behold, I will ^(L)make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the ^(M)sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

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

¹⁰I said, “^(N)In the middle of my ^[e]life
I am to enter the ^(O)gates of Sheol;
I have been ^(P)deprived of the rest of my years.”
¹¹I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord ^(Q)in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
¹²Like a shepherd’s ^(R)tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a ^(S)weaver I ^(T)rolled up my life.
He ^(U)cuts me off from the loom;
From ^(V)day until night You make an end of me.
¹³I composed my soul until morning.
^(W)Like a lion—so He ^(X)breaks all my bones,
From ^(Y)day until night You make an end of me.
¹⁴^(Z)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I ^(AA)moan like a dove;
My ^(AB)eyes look wistfully to the heights;
Lord, I am oppressed, be my ^(AC)security.

¹⁵“^(AD)What shall I say?
^[f]For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will ^(AE)walk ^[g]quietly all my years because of the ^(AF)bitterness of my soul.
¹⁶Lord, ^(AG)by these things people live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
^[h]^(AH)Restore me to health and ^(AI)let me live!
¹⁷Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
But You have ^[i]^(AJ)kept my soul from the pit of ^[j]nothingness,
For You have ^(AK)hurled all my sins behind Your back.
¹⁸For ^(AL)Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down ^(AM)to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
¹⁹It is the ^(AN)living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A ^(AO)father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
²⁰The Lord is certain to save me;
So we will ^(AP)play my songs on stringed instruments
^(AQ)All the days of our life ^(AR)at the house of the Lord.”

²¹Now ^(AS)Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” ²²Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the ^(AT)sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

39 ^(AU)At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ²Hezekiah ^[k]was ^(AV)pleased, and let them see all his treasure house, the ^(AW)silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the excellent olive oil, his entire armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not let them see. ³Then Isaiah the ^(AX)prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far ^(AY)country, from Babylon.” ⁴Then he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[l]answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not let them see.”

⁵Isaiah then said to Hezekiah, “Hear the ^(AZ)word of the Lord of armies, ⁶‘Behold, the days are coming when ^(BA)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ⁷‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, ^(BB)will be taken away, and ^(BC)they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ⁸^(BD)Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he ^[m]thought, “For there will be peace and truth ^(BE)in my days.”

The Greatness of God

40 “^(BF)Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
²“^(BG)Speak ^[n]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her ^[o]^(BH)warfare has ended,
That her ^[p]^(BI)guilt has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
^(BJ)Double for all her sins.”

³^(BK)The voice of one calling out,
“^(BL)Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make ^[q]straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the uneven ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
⁵^[r]Then the ^(BM)glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And ^(BN)all flesh will see it together;
For the ^(BO)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶A voice says, “Call out.”
Then ^[s]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
^(BP)All flesh is grass, and all its ^[t]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷The ^(BQ)grass withers, the flower fades,
^[u]When the ^(BR)breath of the Lord blows upon it;
The people are indeed grass!
⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,
But ^(BS)the word of our God stands forever.

⁹Go up on a ^(BT)high mountain,
Zion, messenger of ^(BU)good news,
Raise your voice forcefully,
Jerusalem, messenger of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(BV)cities of Judah,
“^(BW)Here is your God!”
¹⁰Behold, the Lord ^[v]God will come ^(BX)with might,
With His ^(BY)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His ^(BZ)compensation is with Him,
And His reward before Him.
¹¹Like a shepherd He will ^(CA)tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in the fold of His robe;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has ^(CB)measured the ^[w]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And measured the heavens with a ^[x]span,
And ^[y]calculated the dust of the earth with a measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
¹³^(CC)Who has ^[z]directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His ^(CD)counselor has informed Him?
¹⁴^(CE)With whom did He consult and who ^(CF)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
¹⁵Behold, the ^(CG)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of ^(CH)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the ^[aa]islands like fine dust.
¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to ^[ab]burn,
Nor its ^(CI)animals enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷^(CJ)All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and ^[ac]meaningless.

¹⁸^(CK)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹As for the ^[ad]^(CL)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(CM)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a ^(CN)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To ^[ae]prepare ^[af]an idol that ^(CO)will not totter.

²¹^(CP)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood ^(CQ)from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is He who ^[ag]sits above the ^[ah]^(CR)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(CS)grasshoppers,
Who ^(CT)stretches out the heavens like a ^(CU)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(CV)tent to live in.
²³It is He who reduces ^(CW)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(CX)makes the judges of the earth ^[ai]meaningless.
²⁴^[aj]Scarcely have they been planted,
^[ak]Scarcely have they been sown,
^[al]Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the ^(CY)storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵“^(CZ)To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶^(DA)Raise your eyes on high
And see ^(DB)who has created these stars,
The ^(DC)One who brings out their ^[am]multitude by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the ^(DD)greatness of His might and the ^[an]strength of His power,
^(DE)Not one of them is missing.

²⁷^(DF)Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel,
“My way is ^(DG)hidden from the Lord,
And the ^(DH)justice due me ^[ao]escapes the notice of ^(DI)my God”?
²⁸^(DJ)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(DK)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(DL)unsearchable.
²⁹He gives strength to the ^(DM)weary,
And to the one who lacks might He ^(DN)increases power.
³⁰Though ^(DO)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous ^(DP)young men stumble badly,
³¹Yet those who ^[ap]wait for the Lord
Will ^(DQ)gain new strength;
They will ^[aq]^(DR)mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.