Isaiah 38:1-9

The Lord Hears Hezekiah’s Prayer

38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ¹  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.’” 38:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 38:3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you ²  faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, ³  and how I have carried out your will.” ⁴  Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁵ 

38:4 The Lord told Isaiah, ⁶  38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor ⁷  David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life, 38:6 and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’” 38:7 Isaiah replied, ⁸  “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” ⁹  And then the shadow went back ten steps. ¹⁰ 

Hezekiah’s Song of Thanks

38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:

[38:1]  ¹ tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying”; NRSV “became sick and was at the point of death.”

[38:3]  ² tn Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254.

[38:3]  ³ tn Heb “and with a complete heart”; KJV, ASV “with a perfect heart.”

[38:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”

[38:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “wept with great weeping”; NCV “cried loudly”; TEV “began to cry bitterly.”

[38:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying.”

[38:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “father” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

[38:7]  ⁸ tn The words “Isaiah replied” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the present form of the Hebrew text v. 7 is joined directly to v. 6, but vv. 21-22, if original to Isaiah 38, must be inserted here. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.

[38:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “the shadow on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, with the sun, back ten steps.”

[38:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”