NET Bible | International Standard Version |
1In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, "This is what the LORD says, 'Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.'" | 1During that time, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. Then Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.'" |
2Hezekiah 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"Please, LORD. Remember how I have served you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and how I have carried out your will." Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. | 3"Please, LORD," he said, "Remember how I have walked before you faithfully and with a true heart, and I have done what pleases you." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. |
4The LORD told Isaiah, | 4Then this message from the LORD came to Isaiah: |
5"Go and tell Hezekiah: 'This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life, | 5"Go tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David has to say: "I've heard your prayer and I've seen your tears; so I will add fifteen years to your life. |
6and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city."'" | 6I'll save you and this city from the king of Assyria, and I'll defend this city, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. |
7Isaiah replied, "This is your sign from the LORD confirming that the LORD will do what he has said: | 7This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will carry out this thing he has promised: |
8Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz." And then the shadow went back ten steps. | 8Watch! I will make the shadow on the steps of the upper dial of Ahaz that marks the sun go ten steps backwards."'" Then the sunlight turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had gone down. |
9This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness: | 9 A composition by King Hezekiah of Judah, following his illness and recovery: |
10"I thought, 'In the middle of my life I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the rest of my years.' | 10I said, "Must I leave in the prime of my life? Must I be consigned to the control of Sheol? Bitter are my years!" |
11"I thought, 'I will no longer see the LORD in the land of the living, I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. | 11I said, "I won't see the LORD in the land of the living; and I'll no longer observe human beings among the denizens of the grave. |
12My dwelling place is removed and taken away from me like a shepherd's tent. I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; from the loom he cuts me off. You turn day into night and end my life. | 12My house has been plucked up and vanishes from me like a shepherd's tent; like a weaver, I've taken account of my life, and he cuts me off from the loom— day and night you make an end of me. |
13I cry out until morning; like a lion he shatters all my bones; you turn day into night and end my life. | 13I've been swept bare until morning; just like a lion, he breaks all my bones— day and night you make an end of me. |
14Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. O sovereign master, I am oppressed; help me! | 14Like a swallow or a crane I chirp, I moan like a dove. My eyes look weakly upward. O Lord, I am oppressed, so stand up for me! |
15What can I say? He has decreed and acted. I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. | 15What can I say, so I tell myself, since he has done this to me? I will walk slowly all my years because of my soul's anguish. |
16O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life; may years of life be restored to me. Restore my health and preserve my life.' | 16"My Lord is against them, yet they live, and among all of them who live is his spirit. Now you have restored me to health, so let me live! |
17"Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. You delivered me from the pit of oblivion. For you removed all my sins from your sight. | 17Yes, it was for my own good that I suffered extreme anguish. But in love you have held back my life from the Pit in which it has been confined; you have tossed all my sins behind your back. |
18Indeed Sheol does not give you thanks; death does not praise you. Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness. | 18For Sheol cannot thank you, death cannot sing your praise; and those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. |
19The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks, as I do today. A father tells his sons about your faithfulness. | 19The living—yes the living—they thank you, just as I am doing today; fathers will tell their children about your faithfulness. |
20The LORD is about to deliver me, and we will celebrate with music for the rest of our lives in the LORD's temple." | 20The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on strings all the days of our lives in the LORD's Temple. |
21Isaiah ordered, "Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well." | 21Now Isaiah had said, "Let them prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover." |
22Hezekiah said, "What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the LORD's temple?" | 22Hezekiah also had asked, "What will be the sign for me to go up to the LORD's Temple?" |
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