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1In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.” ’[#38:1–8 2Kg 20:1–6,9–11; 2Ch 32:24; #38:1 2Sm 17:23; #38:1 Lit live]
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord .
3He said, ‘Please, Lord , remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases you.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.[#38:3 Gn 17:1; 1Kg 2:4; 3:6; 8:23; 2Kg 18:5–6; Ps 26:3; #38:3 Dt 6:18]
4Then 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. ,[#38:5 Lit days , also in v. 10; #38:5 2Kg 18:2,13]
6And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.[#38:6 Is 31:5; 37:35]
7This is the sign to you from the Lord that he will do what he has promised:[#38:7 Is 37:30]
8I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.” ’ So the sun’s shadow went back the ten steps it had descended.[#38:8 Jos 10:12–14; #38:8 Lit And the sun]
9A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said: In the prime of my life[#38:10 Lit quiet; #38:10 Ps 102:24]
I must go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11I said: I will never see the Lord ,
the Lord in the land of the living;
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;
he cuts me off from the loom.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
13I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak looking upwards.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16Lord, by such things people live,[#38:16 Ps 119:71,75]
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health
and let me live.
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness;
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
18For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you.
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
20The Lord is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord .
21Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.’[#38:21–22 2Kg 20:7–8]
22And Hezekiah had asked, ‘What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord ’s temple? ’