Isaiah 38

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

1Around that time King Hezekiah got very sick. He was going to die. Isaiah was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. He was the son of Amoz. Isaiah came and said, "The LORD says this. Get your house ready. You will die. You will not get well."

2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall. He prayed to the LORD.

3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, 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.

3He said, "Please, LORD, remember me. I have lived the way you wanted me to live. I gave you my whole heart. I did what you call good." Then Hezekiah cried hard.

4Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

4Then the LORD gave Isaiah a message. He said,

5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

5"Go and tell Hezekiah this. The LORD, the God of your father David, says: I heard your prayer. I saw your tears. I will add fifteen more years to your life.

6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

6I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will keep this city safe.

7And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

7Here is a sign for you from the LORD. It shows you that the LORD will do what he said.

8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

8Look at the shadow on the stairs that King Ahaz built. The sun makes it move down the steps. I will make that shadow go back ten steps." And the sunlight did go back ten steps.

NoteThe "sun dial of Ahaz" was a set of stairs. A shadow moved down the steps as the sun moved across the sky, so people could tell the time.

9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

9This is what Hezekiah, king of Judah, wrote after he was sick and got well.

10I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

10I said, "My life is being cut short. I must go through the gates of the place of the dead. The rest of my years are taken away from me."

NoteThe KJV says "the grave." The word means the place where dead people were thought to go, not just a hole in the ground.

11I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

11I said, "I will never see the LORD again here among living people. I will not see anyone in this world again."

12Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

12My home was pulled up and carried away, like a shepherd folding his tent. I rolled up my life like cloth taken off a loom. God cuts me loose from it. From morning to night you are finishing me.

13I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

13I tried to stay calm until morning came. But like a lion, he breaks all my bones. From morning to night you are finishing me.

14Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

14I made thin little sounds, like a bird. I cried softly, like a dove. My eyes grew tired from looking up. LORD, I am hurting. Please help me.

15What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

15What can I say? He told me this would happen, and he did it. I will walk slowly all my years, because my heart has been so sad.

16O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

16LORD, things like this keep people alive. My spirit stays alive because of them. You made me well again. You let me live.

17Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

17It was for my own good that I hurt so much. You loved me and saved me from the deep pit. You threw all my sins behind your back.

18For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

18The place of the dead cannot thank you. Death cannot praise you. People who go down to the pit cannot hope in your promises.

19The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

19Living people, only living people, can thank you. I thank you today. Fathers will tell their children that you keep your word.

20The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

20The LORD will save me. So we will sing my songs with stringed instruments. We will do this all our lives, in the LORD's house.

21For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

21Isaiah had said, "Take a lump of squashed figs. Press it onto the sore. Then the king will get well."

NoteA "plaister" is a soft lump of food or medicine laid on a sore, held in place like a bandage.

22Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

22And Hezekiah had asked, "What sign will show me that I will go up to the LORD's house?"