Isaiah 38

Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery

1 q In those days Hezekiah became r sick and was at the point of death. And s Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover." 1 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, "Please, O Lord, remember how t I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add u fifteen years to your life. 2 6 v I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

7 "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 w Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. 3

9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

10 I said, x In the middle 4 of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
 11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord y in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
 12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
z like a shepherd's tent;
a like a weaver b I have rolled up my life;
c he cuts me off from the loom;
d from day to night you bring me to an end;
 13 e I calmed myself 5 until morning;
like a lion f he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.

14 Like g a swallow or a crane I chirp;
h I moan like a dove.
i My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; j be my pledge of safety!
 15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
k I walk slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 l O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh restore me to health and make me live!
 17 m Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
n but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
n for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
 18 o For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
 19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
p the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
q at the house of the Lord.

21 r Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover." 22 Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?"

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 38:1 - 8
    In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord : Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.
    2 Kings 20:1 - 6
    In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.'
    2 Kings 20:9 - 11
    And Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?
  2. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 32:24
    In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:1
    The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
  4. Cross References
    2 Kings 18:5 - 6
    He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.
  5. Cross References
    2 Kings 18:2
    He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
    2 Kings 18:13
    In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 37:35
    For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
  7. Cross References
    2 Kings 20:9 - 10
    And Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 102:24
    "O my God," I say, "take me not away in the midst of my days - you whose years endure throughout all generations!"
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 27:13
    I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
    Psalms 88:5
    Like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
  10. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 5:1
    For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
  11. Cross References
    Job 7:6
    My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.
  12. Cross References
    Hebrews 1:12
    Like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.
  13. Cross References
    Job 6:9
    That it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
  14. Cross References
    Job 4:20
    Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
    Psalms 73:14
    For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 30:5
    For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
  16. Cross References
    Psalms 38:3
    There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:7
    Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:11
    We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
  19. Cross References
    Psalms 69:3
    I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 119:122
    Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.
    Psalms 86:17
    Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
    Hebrews 7:22
    This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
  21. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:27
    And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
  22. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 8:3
    And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 119:67
    Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
    Psalms 119:75
    I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
  24. Cross References
    Psalms 103:12
    As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
    Micah 7:19
    He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 103:12
    As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
    Micah 7:19
    He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
  26. Cross References
    Psalms 88:10 - 12
    Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
    Psalms 115:17
    The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence.
    Ecclesiastes 9:10
    Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
  27. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:9
    Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children -
    Deuteronomy 6:7
    You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
    Psalms 78:3 - 4
    Things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
  28. Cross References
    2 Kings 20:5
    Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
  29. Cross References
    2 Kings 20:7 - 8
    And Isaiah said, "Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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