Isaiah 38:1-8
Amplified Bible
Hezekiah Healed
38 In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lord says this, ‘Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’”(A) 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘For the Lord, the God of David your father says this, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].”’
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8 Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway ([a]sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.
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- Isaiah 38:8 Some suggest that this stairway was built to serve as a sundial; others think that it was just a stairway whose design happened to function as a kind of sundial. The Hebrew word simply means “ascent,” which can be a stair or a stairway. If it was fully exposed to the sun, the shadow must have been cast by some object, such as a pole. Otherwise, if it was covered, then perhaps there was an opening through which the sun shone and illuminated part of the stairway.
Isaiah 38:1-8
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.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and 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.
4 Then 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. 6 And 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: 8 Behold, 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.
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- Isaiah 38:1 Lit sick to death
- Isaiah 38:3 Lit great weeping
- Isaiah 38:5 Lit days
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