Isaiah 38

Isaiah 37 Isaiah 39

Isaiah 38 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Chapter 38

Sickness and Recovery of Hezekiah. ¹^[a]In those days,^[b] when Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.” ²Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord:

³“Ah, Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was good in your sight!” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ⁵Go, tell Hezekiah:^[c] Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Now I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city.

⁷This will be the sign for you from the Lord that the Lord will carry out the word he has spoken: ⁸See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz^[d] go back the ten steps it has advanced. So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.

Hezekiah’s Hymn of Thanksgiving. ⁹The song of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

¹⁰In the noontime of life^[e] I said,
    I must depart!
To the gates of Sheol I have been consigned
    for the rest of my years.
¹¹I said, I shall see the Lord^[f] no more
    in the land of the living.
Nor look on any mortals
    among those who dwell in the world.
¹²My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
    is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
    who severs me from the last thread.^[g]
From morning to night you make an end of me;
¹³    I cry out even until the dawn.
Like a lion he breaks all my bones;
    from morning to night you make an end of me.
¹⁴Like a swallow I chirp;
    I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weary looking heavenward:
    Lord, I am overwhelmed; go security for me!
¹⁵^[h]What am I to say or tell him?
    He is the one who has done it!
All my sleep has fled,
    because of the bitterness of my soul.
¹⁶Those live whom the Lord protects;
    yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and restored my life!
¹⁷    Peace in place of bitterness!
You have preserved my life
    from the pit of destruction;
Behind your back
    you cast all my sins.^[i]
¹⁸^[j]For it is not Sheol that gives you thanks,
    nor death that praises you;
Neither do those who go down into the pit
    await your kindness.
¹⁹The living, the living give you thanks,
    as I do today.
Parents declare to their children,
    O God, your faithfulness.
²⁰The Lord is there to save us.
    We shall play our music
In the house of the Lord
    all the days of our life.

²¹^[k]Then Isaiah said, “Bring a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil for his recovery.” ²²Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Footnotes:

38:1–39:8 The events of this section—sickness and recovery of Hezekiah, embassy of Merodach-baladan—anticipate the rise of Babylon (chaps. 40–66). They occurred prior to the events of 36:1–37:38, which point back to Assyria (1:1–35:10).
38:1 In those days: before the siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.
38:5 Since Hezekiah died in 687 B.C., his sickness may have occurred in 702 B.C., that is, fifteen years before.
38:8 Stairway to the terrace of Ahaz: this interpretation is based on a reading of the Hebrew text revised according to the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah; cf. 2 Kgs 23:12. Many translate the phrase as “steps of Ahaz” and understand this as referring to a sundial.
38:10 In the noontime of life: long before the end of a full span of life; cf. Ps 55:24; 102:25.
38:11 See the Lord: go to the Temple and take part in its service.
38:12 These two metaphors emphasize the suddenness and finality of death.
38:15–16 The Hebrew text is very problematic and its meaning uncertain.
38:17 Behind your back you cast all my sins: figurative language to express the divine forgiveness of sins, as if God no longer saw or cared about them.
38:18–19 See note on Ps 6:6.
38:21–22 These verses are clearly out of place. Logically they should come after v. 6, as they do in the parallel account in 2 Kgs 20, but the two accounts are not identical, and it appears that the version in Isaiah is abbreviated from that in Kings. If that is so, Is 38:21–22 would be a secondary addition from Kings, inserted by a later reader who thought the account incomplete.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Isaiah 38 New International Version (NIV)

Hezekiah’s Illness

38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

²Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³“Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; 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.

⁷“‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: ⁸I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life
    must I go through the gates of death
    and be robbed of the rest of my years?”
¹¹I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself
    in the land of the living;
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
    or be with those who now dwell in this world.
¹²Like a shepherd’s tent my house
    has been pulled down and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,
    and he has cut me off from the loom;
    day and night you made an end of me.
¹³I waited patiently till dawn,
    but like a lion he broke all my bones;
    day and night you made an end of me.
¹⁴I cried like a swift or thrush,
    I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.
    I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”

¹⁵But what can I say?
    He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.
I will walk humbly all my years
    because of this anguish of my soul.
¹⁶Lord, by such things people live;
    and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
    and let me live.
¹⁷Surely it was for my benefit
    that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
    from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
    behind your back.
¹⁸For the grave cannot praise you,
    death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
    cannot hope for your faithfulness.
¹⁹The living, the living—they praise you,
    as I am doing today;
parents tell their children
    about your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me,
and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the temple of the Lord.

²¹Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

²²Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”

New International Version (NIV)

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