Isaiah 38

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

King Hezekiah of Judah became mortally ill, and the prophet Isaiah informed him that he would die and not recover. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, prayed to the LORD, wept bitterly, and reminded God of his faithful and wholehearted devotion. In response, the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, instructing him to tell Hezekiah that God had heard his prayer, seen his tears, would add fifteen years to his life, and would deliver him and the city from the king of Assyria. As a sign that the LORD would fulfill this promise, the sun’s shadow on the stairway of Ahaz went back ten steps. Isaiah also directed that a lump of pressed figs be applied to Hezekiah's boil for his recovery. Afterward, Hezekiah wrote a poem recording his thoughts during his illness, his despair of descending to Sheol, his gratitude for God restoring him to health, and his intention to praise the LORD with stringed instruments in the house of the LORD.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’” ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. ⁷This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: ⁸I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended. ⁹This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery: ¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” ¹¹I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. ¹²My dwelling has been picked 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; from day until night You make an end of me. ¹³I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me. ¹⁴I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.” ¹⁵What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul. ¹⁶O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live. ¹⁷Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. ¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. ¹⁹The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness. ²⁰The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD. ²¹Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” ²²And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.