Isaiah 38:9-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said: In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.(A)
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon mortals no more
among the inhabitants of the world.(B)
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;(C)
13 I cry for help[a] until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.(D)
14 Like a swallow or a crane[b] I clamor;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!(E)
15 But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled[c]
because of the bitterness of my soul.(F)
16 O Lord, by these things people live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.[d]
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17 Surely it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness,
but you have held back[e] my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.(G)
18 For Sheol cannot thank you;
death cannot praise you;
those who go down to the Pit cannot hope
for your faithfulness.(H)
19 The living, the living, they thank you,
as I do this day;
fathers make known to children
your faithfulness.(I)
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will sing to stringed instruments[f]
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the Lord.(J)
Isaiah 38:9-20
International Standard Version
Hezekiah’s Prayer
9 A composition by King Hezekiah of Judah, following his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life?
Must I be consigned to the control[a] of Sheol?[b]
Bitter are[c] my years!”
11 I said, “I won’t see the Lord[d] in the land of the living;
and[e] I’ll no longer observe human beings
among the denizens of the grave.[f]
12 My house has been plucked up and vanishes[g] from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver, I’ve taken account of[h] my life,
and he cuts me off from the loom—
day and night you make an end of me.
13 I’ve been swept bare[i] until morning;
just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—
day and night you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes look weakly upward.
O Lord,[j] I am oppressed, so[k] stand up for me!
15 What can I say, so I tell myself,[l]
since he has done this to me?[m]
I will walk slowly all my years
because of my soul’s anguish.
16 “My Lord is against them, yet they live,
and among all of them who live is his spirit.[n]
Now you have restored me to health,
so let me live!
17 Yes, it was for my own good
that I suffered extreme anguish.[o]
But in love you have held back[p] my life
from the Pit[q] in which it has been confined;[r]
you have tossed all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol[s] cannot thank you,
death cannot[t] sing your praise;
and[u] those who go down to the Pit[v] cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living—yes the living—they thank you,
just as I am doing today;
fathers will tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,[w]
and we will play my music on strings
all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s Temple.[x]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:10 Lit. gates; i.e. the place where legal cases were adjudicated
- Isaiah 38:10 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:10 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read the rest of
- Isaiah 38:11 Lit. Yah; So 1QIsaa; MT reads Yah Yah; MTmss read Lord
- Isaiah 38:11 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 38:11 Lit. cessation; or the end; So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss read the world
- Isaiah 38:12 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read and has been taken away
- Isaiah 38:12 So 1QIsaa; MT reads have rolled up
- Isaiah 38:13 So 1QIsaa; or I cried for help; MT reads I was composed; cf. Targ
- Isaiah 38:14 So 1QIsaa MT; 1QIsab reads Lord
- Isaiah 38:14 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks so
- Isaiah 38:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads for he has spoken to me
- Isaiah 38:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and it is he who has done it
- Isaiah 38:16 So 1QIsaa; MT reads is the life of my spirit
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read bitter, bitter
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads you have loved
- Isaiah 38:17 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; MT reads pit of destruction
- Isaiah 38:18 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:18 So 1QIsaa LXX; implied in 1QIsab MT
- Isaiah 38:18 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 38:18 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:20 At this point a later scribe inserted into 1QIsaa a repetition of v. 19 and the beginning of v. 20, but with some different spellings and a word missing.
- Isaiah 38:20 The same second scribe continued with the rest of this verse; not originally in 1QIsaa.
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