Hezekiah Gets Sick and Almost Dies

¹About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. Isaiah the prophet went in and told him, “The Lord says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”

²Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed,

³“Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, Lord . I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried bitterly.

⁴Before Isaiah got to the middle court of the palace,

⁵the Lord sent him back to Hezekiah with this message:

⁷Then Isaiah said to the king's servants, “Bring some mashed figs and place them on the king's open sore. He will then get well.”

⁸Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “Can you prove that the Lord will heal me, so that I can worship in his temple in three days?”

⁹Isaiah replied, “The Lord will prove to you that he will keep his promise. Will the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”[#20.9 One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]

¹⁰“It's normal for the sun to go forward,” Hezekiah answered. “But how can it go back?”

¹¹Isaiah prayed, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway built for King Ahaz.[#20.11 One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]

The Lord Is Still with Hezekiah

¹²Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah had been sick, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him.[#20.12 The Hebrew text has “Berodach,” another spelling of the name.; #20.12 Ruled Babylonia 722–710 and 704–703 b.c.]

¹³Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oils that were in his storehouse. He even showed them where he kept his weapons. Nothing in his palace or in his entire kingdom was kept hidden from them.[#20.13 Or “listened to.”]

¹⁴Isaiah asked Hezekiah, “Where did these men come from? What did they want?”

“They came all the way from Babylonia,” Hezekiah answered.

¹⁵“What did you show them?” Isaiah asked.

Hezekiah answered, “I showed them everything in my kingdom.”

¹⁶Then Isaiah told Hezekiah:

¹⁹Hezekiah thought, “At least our nation will be at peace for a while.” So he told Isaiah, “The message you brought me from the Lord is good.”

Hezekiah Dies

²⁰Everything else Hezekiah did while he was king, including his brave deeds and how he made the upper pool and tunnel bring water into Jerusalem, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah .

²¹Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh became king.