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In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the
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Then the word of the
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"This is the sign to you from the
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A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
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I said: In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
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I said, I shall not see the
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon mortals no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
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My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end; 2
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I cry for help 3 until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end. 4
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Like a swallow or a crane 5 I clamor,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!
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But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled 6
because of the bitterness of my soul.
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O Lord, by these things people live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit. 7
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
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Surely it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but you have held back 8 my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
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For Sheol cannot thank you,
death cannot praise you;
those who go down to the Pit cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
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The living, the living, they thank you,
as I do this day;
fathers make known to children
your faithfulness.
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The
and we will sing to stringed instruments 9
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the
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Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover."
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Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the