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Hezekiah Healed

^1 (C1)In those days Hezekiah king of Judah became sick and was at the point of death. And ^(C2)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, "For the LORD says this, '^(C3)Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.'" ^(VR1)2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,³ and said, "Please, O LORD, just ^(C1)remember how I have ^(C2)walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a ^(C3)whole heart absolutely devoted to You, and ^(C4)have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah ^(C5)wept greatly.

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,⁵ "Go and say to Hezekiah, 'For the LORD, the God of David your father says this, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add ^(C1)fifteen years to your life.⁶ "I will ^(C1)rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city Jerusalem."'

⁷ "This shall be the ^(C1)sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken:⁸ "Listen carefully, I will ^(C1)turn the shadow on the stairway denoting the time of day ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (^(F1)sundial) of Ahaz." And the ^(C2)sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had previously gone down.

⁹ This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

¹⁰ I said, "^(C1)In mid-life
I am to go through the ^(C2)gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),
^(C3)I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years."

¹¹ I said, "I will not see the LORD,
The LORD ^(C1)in the land of the living;
I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.

¹² "My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd's ^(C1)tent;
I have ^(C2)rolled up my life as a ^(C3)weaver rolls up the finished web.
He ^(C4)cuts me free from the warp of the loom;
From ^(C5)day to night You bring me to an end.

¹³ "I lay down until morning.
^(C1)Like a lion, so He ^(C2)breaks all my bones;
From ^(C3)day until night You bring me to an end.

¹⁴ "^(C1)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp;
I ^(C2)coo like a dove.
My ^(C3)eyes look wistfully upward;
O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my ^(C4)security.

¹⁵ "^(C1)What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will ^(C2)wander aimlessly all my years because of the ^(C3)bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶ "O Lord, ^(C1)by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
^(C2)Restore me to health and ^(C3)let me live!

¹⁷ "Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;
But You have ^(C1)loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),
For You have ^(C2)cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁸ "For ^(C1)Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down ^(C2)to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

¹⁹ "It is the ^(C1)living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today;
A ^(C2)father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

²⁰ "The LORD is ready to save me;
Therefore we will ^(C1)play my songs on stringed instruments
^(C2)All the days of our lives ^(C3)at the house of the LORD."

²¹ Now ^(C1)Isaiah had said, "Have them take a cake of figs and rub it as an ointment on the inflamed spot, that he may recover."²² Hezekiah also had said, "What is the ^(C1)sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?"