Isaiah 38 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Hezekiah’s Life Extended

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Healing

(2 Kin. 20:1–11; 2 Chr. 32:24–26 )

Isa 38:1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”

Isa 38:2

Isa 38:2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,

Isa 38:3

Isa 38:3and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isa 38:4

Isa 38:4And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,

Isa 38:5

Isa 38:5“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.

Isa 38:6

Isa 38:6“I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.” ’

Isa 38:7

Isa 38:7“And this is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing which He has spoken:

Isa 38:8

Isa 38:8“Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

Isa 38:9

Isa 38:9This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

Isa 38:10

Isa 38:10I said,
“In the prime of my life
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”

Isa 38:11

Isa 38:11I said,
“I shall not see YAH,
The LORD[fn] in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world.[fn]

Isa 38:12

Isa 38:12My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have cut off my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.

Isa 38:13

Isa 38:13I have considered until morning—
Like a lion,
So He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You make an end of me.

Isa 38:14

Isa 38:14Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;
I mourned like a dove;
My eyes fail from looking upward.
O LORD,[fn] I am oppressed;
Undertake for me!

Isa 38:15

Isa 38:15“What shall I say?
He has both spoken to me,[fn]
And He Himself has done it.
I shall walk carefully all my years
In the bitterness of my soul.

Isa 38:16

Isa 38:16O Lord, by these things men live;
And in all these things is the life of my spirit;
So You will restore me and make me live.

Isa 38:17

Isa 38:17Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

Isa 38:18

Isa 38:18For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.

Isa 38:19

Isa 38:19The living, the living man, he shall praise You,
As I do this day;
The father shall make known Your truth to the children.

Isa 38:20

Isa 38:20“The LORD was ready to save me;
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life, in the house of the LORD.”

Isa 38:21

Isa 38:21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”

Isa 38:22

Isa 38:22And Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(38:11)

Hebrew YAH, YAH

(38:11)

Following some Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text and Vulgate read rest; Septuagint omits among the inhabitants of the world; Targum reads land.

(38:14)

Following Bomberg; Masoretic Text and Dead Sea Scrolls read Lord.

(38:15)

Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Dead Sea Scrolls and Targum read And shall I say to Him; Septuagint omits first half of this verse.

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.