Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery (2 Chronicles 32:24–31; Isaiah 38:1–8)
1 UST Around that time, Hezekiah became so sick that he was in danger of dying. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and told him,“Yahweh says that you should tell the people in your palace what you want them to do after you die. You should do that because you are not going to recover from this illness. Instead, you are going to die.” BSB BSB: In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
2 UST Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall{ so that he could have privacy} and prayed to Yahweh. He said, BSB BSB: Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,
3 UST “Yahweh, please do not forget that I have served you loyally and I have devoted myself entirely to you. I have done things that pleased you.” Then Hezekiah started to cry loudly. BSB BSB: “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 UST Isaiah{ left the king, but} before he had crossed the middle courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave him a message. He said, BSB BSB: Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 UST “Go back to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and tell him that I, Yahweh, the God whom his ancestor King David worshiped, have heard what he prayed. I have seen how he has been crying. Tell him that I will heal him. Two days from now, he will be able to go to my temple. BSB BSB: “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD.
6 UST Tell him that I will enable him to live for 15 more years. Promise him that I will prevent the king of Assyria from defeating him and conquering this city. I will defend this city to show that I am the one true God and because of what I promised to my servant David.” BSB BSB: I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
7 UST Isaiah{ came back and told Hezekiah what Yahweh had said, then he} told Hezekiah’ s servants,“Make a paste from figs.” The servants made the fig paste and put it on the sore place on Hezekiah’ s body. Then he recovered. BSB BSB: Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.
8 UST Hezekiah had asked Isaiah{ when he told him that Yahweh would heal him},“Will Yahweh please give me a sign to show that he is going to heal me and that two days from now I will be able to go to his temple?” BSB BSB: Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”
9 UST Isaiah had replied,“Yahweh will do something that will prove to you that he will do what he promised. The shadow has gone ten steps down the stairway{ that serves as a sundial}. Do you want him to make it go back up those ten steps?” BSB BSB: And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”
10 UST Hezekiah replied,“It would be easy to move the shadow farther down the steps{ because that is how it always moves}. So do not ask Yahweh to do that. Instead, ask him to make it go back up those ten steps.” BSB BSB: “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”
11 UST So Isaiah prayed earnestly to Yahweh, and Yahweh caused the shadow to go ten steps back up the stairs that King Ahaz had his workers build{ as a sundial}. BSB BSB: So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.
Hezekiah Shows His Treasures (Isaiah 39:1–8)
12 UST Berodach Baladan had become the king of Babylon after his father Baladan died. Around this time, he learned that King Hezekiah had been very sick. So he sent messengers to him. They brought a gift to Hezekiah, along with a letter{ that said how glad Berodach Baladan was that Hezekiah had recovered}. BSB BSB: At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness.
13 UST When the messengers arrived, Hezekiah listened when they read the letter to him from Berodach Baladan. Then he showed them all the valuable possessions he was keeping in his palace. He showed them the silver and the gold, the spices, the special olive oil, and the weapons for his soldiers. He showed them all the valuable things that were in his storerooms and in other places in his kingdom. BSB BSB: And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 UST Then the prophet Isaiah went to Hezekiah and asked him,“Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied,“They came from a country that is far from here. They came from Babylon.” BSB BSB: Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
15 UST Isaiah asked,“What did they see in your palace?” Hezekiah replied,“I showed them everything in my palace. I showed them all the valuable things that are in my storerooms.” BSB BSB: “What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
16 UST Then Isaiah told him,“Yahweh is telling you BSB BSB: Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD:
17 UST that there will be a time when the Babylonian army will take away all the valuable things in your palace. That includes the things that your ancestors have put there over the years. They will leave nothing valuable here. This is what Yahweh is telling you. BSB BSB: The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.
18 UST He is also telling you that the Babylonian army will force some of your own descendants to go to Babylon. There they will be eunuchs in the royal palace.” BSB BSB: And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
19 UST Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah,“I accept what Yahweh has said in the message you have delivered.” He said that because he was thinking,“Even if that happens, the people of my kingdom will live peacefully and safely for as long as I am alive.” BSB BSB: But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah 21 UST When Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh became the next king of Judah. BSB BSB: And Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.