Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery (2 Kings 20:1–11; 2 Chronicles 32:24–31)
1 WBS In those days was Hezekiah sick with a mortal disease. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 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 WBS Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall, and prayed to the LORD, BSB BSB: Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3 WBS And 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 bitterly. BSB BSB: saying, “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 WBS Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, BSB BSB: And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,
5 WBS Go 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 to thy days fifteen years. BSB BSB: “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
6 WBS And I will deliver thee and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. BSB BSB: And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
7 WBS And this shall be a sign to thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; BSB BSB: This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:
8 WBS Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which hath gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it had gone down. BSB BSB: I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanksgiving 9 WBS The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness: BSB BSB: This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 WBS I 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. BSB BSB: I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11 WBS I 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. BSB BSB: I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world.
12 WBS My age hath 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. BSB BSB: My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.
13 WBS I 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. BSB BSB: I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.
14 WBS Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered: I mourned as a dove: my eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. BSB BSB: I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
15 WBS What shall I say? he hath both spoken to me, and himself hath done it : I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. BSB BSB: What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16 WBS O 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. BSB BSB: O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live.
17 WBS Behold, 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. BSB BSB: Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 WBS For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. BSB BSB: For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 WBS The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. BSB BSB: The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
20 WBS The 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. BSB BSB: The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.
21 WBS For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he will recover. BSB BSB: Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22 WBS Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD? BSB BSB: And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.