Isaiah 38:5-7

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

⁵Go, 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 ^[a]add to your life fifteen years.

⁶And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].

⁷And this will be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:

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Footnotes

Isaiah 38:5 God’s time for Hezekiah to die had come (Isa. 38:1), but he had no son. It was unthinkable to him, apparently, that he should die and leave no heir to his throne. As devout as he was, he could not trust the Lord to give His faithful servant what was best for him. So he took matters into his own hands and begged to be allowed to live on. The Lord granted his request—sons were born. How immense the grief that resulted! One of his sons, Manasseh, became Hezekiah’s disgraceful and ruthless successor, not for just a few years, but for fifty-five! (II Kings 21:1ff.) He undid everything reformatory that had been done, established idol worship, caused his son to go through the fire as an offering to the pagan god, defied God’s prophets, and caused the slaughter of those who opposed him (including perhaps Isaiah, his father’s best friend who, according to Jewish tradition, was sawed in half during Manasseh’s reign). How little Hezekiah knew of what was best for him or for Judah! How presumptuous is anyone who demands that his own shortsighted vision replace the wisdom of God’s plan for his own life or for that of others! See also footnote on II Kings 20:6.