| New Living Translation | English Standard Version |
| 1About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’” | 1In 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.” |
| 2When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, | 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, |
| 3“Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly. | 3and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how 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. |
| 4Then this message came to Isaiah from the LORD: | 4Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: |
| 5“Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life, | 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 fifteen years to your life. |
| 6and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city. | 6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. |
| 7“‘And this is the sign from the LORD to prove that he will do as he promised: | 7“This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: |
| 8I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps. Hezekiah’s Poem of Praise | 8Behold, 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. |
| 9When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem: | 9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: |
| 10I said, “In the prime of my life, must I now enter the place of the dead? Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?” | 10I said, In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. |
| 11I said, “Never again will I see the LORD God while still in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends or be with those who live in this world. | 11I said, I shall not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. |
| 12My life has been blown away like a shepherd’s tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly, my life was over. | 12My 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; |
| 13I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over. | 13I calmed myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end. |
| 14Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!” | 14Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! |
| 15But what could I say? For he himself sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt. | 15What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. |
| 16Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You restore my health and allow me to live! | 16O 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! |
| 17Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins. | 17Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. |
| 18For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness. | 18For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. |
| 19Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next. | 19The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness. |
| 20Think of it—the LORD is ready to heal me! I will sing his praises with instruments every day of my life in the Temple of the LORD. | 20The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD. |
| 21Isaiah had said to Hezekiah’s servants, “Make an ointment from figs and spread it over the boil, and Hezekiah will recover.” | 21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” |
| 22And Hezekiah had asked, “What sign will prove that I will go to the Temple of the LORD?” | 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?” |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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