38 1 Hezekiah is sick. 5 He is restored to health by the Lord, and liveth fifteen years after. 10 He giveth thanks for his benefit.
1 About (A)that [a]time was Hezekiah sick unto the death, and the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Put thine house in an order, for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah [b]turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
3 And said, I beseech thee, Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept sore.
4 ¶ Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go, and say unto Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, and seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver thee [c]out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and this city: for I will defend this city.
7 And [d]this sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken,
8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees (whereby it is gone down in the dial of Ahaz by the [e]sun) ten degrees backward: so the sun returned by ten degrees, by the which degrees it was gone down.
9 [f]The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10 I said in the [g]cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, [h]I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I shall see man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine habitation is departed, and is removed from me, like a shepherd’s tent: I [i]have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the height: from day [j]to night, thou wilt make an end of me.
13 I reckoned [k]to the morning: but he brake all my bones like a lion, from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I [l]chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes were lifted up on high: O Lord, [m]it hath oppressed me, comfort me.
15 What shall I say, [n]for he hath said it to me, and he hath done it: I shall walk [o]weakly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, [p]to them that overlive them, and to all that are in them, the life of my spirit shall be known, that thou causest me to [q]sleep and hast given life to me.
17 Behold, for [r]felicity I had bitter grief, but it was thy pleasure to deliver my soul from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my [s]sins behind thy back.
18 For [t]the grave cannot confess thee: death cannot praise thee: they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy truth.
19 But the living, the living, he shall confess thee, as I do this day: the father to the [u]children shall declare thy truth.
20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my song, all the days of [v]our life in the house of the Lord.
21 Then said Isaiah, Take a lump of dry figs and [w]lay it upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22 Also Hezekiah [x]had said, What is the sign, that I shall go up into the house of the Lord?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:1 Soon after that the Assyrians were slain: so that God will have the exercise of his children continually, that they may learn only to depend upon God and aspire to the heavens.
- Isaiah 38:2 For his heart was touched with fear of God’s judgment, seeing he had appointed him to die so quickly after his deliverance from so great calamity, as one unworthy to remain in that estate, and also foreseeing the great change that should come in the Church, forasmuch as he left no son to reign after him: for as yet Manasseh was not born, and when he reigned, we see what a tyrant he was.
- Isaiah 38:6 He doth not only promise to prolong his life, but to give him rest and quietness from the Assyrians, who might have renewed their army to revenge their former discomfiture.
- Isaiah 38:7 For Hezekiah had asked for the confirmation of his faith, a sign, as verse 22, and 2 Kings 20:8, whereunto he was moved by the singular motion of God’s spirit.
- Isaiah 38:8 Read 2 Kings 20:10.
- Isaiah 38:9 He left this song of his lamentation and thanksgiving to all posterity, as a monument of his own infirmity and thankful heart for God’s benefits, as David did, Ps. 51.
- Isaiah 38:10 At what time it was told me, that I should die.
- Isaiah 38:11 I shall no more praise the Lord here in this Temple among the faithful: thus God suffereth his dearest children to want his consolation for a time, that his grace afterward may the more appear when they feel their own weakness.
- Isaiah 38:12 By my sin I have provoked God to take my life from me.
- Isaiah 38:12 That is, in one day, or shortly.
- Isaiah 38:13 Over night I thought that I should live till morning, but my pangs in the night persuaded me the contrary: he showeth the horror that the faithful have when they apprehend God’s judgment against their sin.
- Isaiah 38:14 I was so oppressed with sorrow, that I was not able to utter my words, but only to groan and sigh.
- Isaiah 38:14 To wit, sorrow and grief both of the body and mind.
- Isaiah 38:15 God hath declared by his Prophet that I shall die and therefore I will yield unto him.
- Isaiah 38:15 I shall have no release, but continual sorrows while I live.
- Isaiah 38:16 They that shall overlive the men that are now alive, and all they that are in these years shall acknowledge this benefit.
- Isaiah 38:16 That after that thou hadst condemned me to death thou restoredst me to life.
- Isaiah 38:17 Whereas I thought to have lived in rest and ease being delivered from mine enemy, I had grief upon grief.
- Isaiah 38:17 He esteemeth more the remission of his sins, and God’s favor than a thousand lives.
- Isaiah 38:18 Forasmuch as God hath placed man in this world to glorify him, the godly take it as a sign of his wrath, when their days were shortened, either because that they seemed unworthy for their sins to live longer in his service, or for their zeal to God’s glory, seeing that there are so few in earth that do regard it, as Ps. 6:5; 115:17.
- Isaiah 38:19 All posterity shall acknowledge, and the fathers according to their duty toward their children shall instruct them in thy graces, and mercies toward me.
- Isaiah 38:20 He showeth what is the use of the Congregation and Church, to wit, to give the Lord thanks for his benefits.
- Isaiah 38:21 Read 2 Kings 20:7.
- Isaiah 38:22 As verse 7.