²⁶ for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. ^(A)Though our outer self^[a] is wasting away, ^(B)our inner self ^(C)is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For ^(D)this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

⁵ “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah ^(A)the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ^(B)I have heard your prayer; ^(C)I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, ⁶ and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, ^(D)and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”

¹⁶ and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of ^(A)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

⁶ And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of ^(A)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”