New Living Translation

King James Bible

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery

About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’”

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Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

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When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

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Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

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“Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.

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And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

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Then this message came to Isaiah from the LORD:

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Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

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“Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life,

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Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

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and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city.

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And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

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“‘And this is the sign from the LORD to prove that he will do as he promised:

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And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

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I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundiala of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.

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Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

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Hezekiah’s Poem of Praise

When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem:

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Hezekiah's Song of Thanksgiving

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

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I said, “In the prime of my life,
must I now enter the place of the dead?b
Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?”

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I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

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I said, “Never again will I see the LORD God
while still in the land of the living.
Never again will I see my friends
or be with those who live in this world.

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I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

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My life has been blown away
like a shepherd’s tent in a storm.
It has been cut short,
as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.
Suddenly, my life was over.

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Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

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I waited patiently all night,
but I was torn apart as though by lions.
Suddenly, my life was over.

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I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

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Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane,
and then I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help.
I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”

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Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

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But what could I say?
For he himself sent this sickness.
Now I will walk humbly throughout my years
because of this anguish I have felt.

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What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

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Lord, your discipline is good,
for it leads to life and health.
You restore my health
and allow me to live!

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O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

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Yes, this anguish was good for me,
for you have rescued me from death
and forgiven all my sins.

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Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

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For the deadc cannot praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to the grave
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.

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For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

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Only the living can praise you as I do today.
Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.

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The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

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Think of it — the LORD is ready to heal me!
I will sing his praises with instruments
every day of my life
in the Temple of the LORD.

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The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

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Isaiah had said to Hezekiah’s servants, “Make an ointment from figs and spread it over the boil, and Hezekiah will recover.”

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For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

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And Hezekiah had asked, “What sign will prove that I will go to the Temple of the LORD?”

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Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

Parallel

New Living Translation

King James Bible

Isaiah 38

Isaiah 38