Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
1 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. s The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your house in order, t for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” M
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. 3 He said, “Please, LORD, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly, u and have done what pleases you.” N,v And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life. O,w 6 And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city. x 7 This is the sign to you y from the LORD that he will do what P he has promised: Q 8 I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’ ” z So the sun’s shadow R went back the ten steps it had descended.
9 A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10 I said: In the prime S of my life a
I must go to the gates of Sheol; b
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11 I said: I will never see the LORD,
the LORD in the land of the living; c
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away. T
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent. d
I have rolled up my life like a weaver; e
he cuts me off from the loom. f
By nightfall U you make an end of me. g
13 I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove. h
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me. i
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years j
because of the bitterness of my soul. k
16 Lord, by such things people live, l
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health m
and let me live. n
17 Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness; o
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction, p
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back. q
18 For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you. r
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children. s
20 The LORD is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the LORD. t
21 Now Isaiah u had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’S temple? ”