Study Desk

^(C1)In those days Hezekiah became ^(F1)mortally ill. And ^(C2)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: '^(C3)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.'"

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

and said, "^(C1)Please, LORD, just remember how I have ^(C2)walked before You ^(C3)wholeheartedly and in truth, and ^(C4)have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah ^(C5)wept ^(F1)profusely.

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

"Go and say to Hezekiah, '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 ^(C1)fifteen years to your ^(F1)life.

"And I will ^(C1)save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city."'

"And this shall be the ^(C1)sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will perform this word that He has spoken:

"Behold, I will ^(C1)make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps." So the ^(C2)sun's shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and ^(F1)recovery:

I said, "^(C1)In the middle of my ^(F1)life I am to enter the ^(C2)gates of Sheol; I have been ^(C3)deprived of the rest of my years."

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

-"Like a shepherd's ^(C1)tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a ^(C2)weaver I ^(C3)rolled up my life. He ^(C4)cuts me off from the loom; From ^(C5)day until night You make an end of me.

-"I composed my soul until morning. ^(C1)Like a lion—so He ^(C2)breaks all my bones, From ^(C3)day until night You make an end of me.

-"^(C1)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I ^(C2)moan like a dove; My ^(C3)eyes look wistfully to the heights; Lord, I am oppressed, be my ^(C4)security.

"^(C1)What shall I say? ^(F1)For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will ^(C2)walk ^(F2)quietly all my years because of the ^(C3)bitterness of my soul.

-"Lord, ^(C1)by these things people live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; ^(F1)(C2)Restore me to health and ^(C3)let me live!

-"Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; But You have ^(F1)(C1)kept my soul from the pit of ^(F2)nothingness, For You have ^(C2)hurled all my sins behind Your back.

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

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

-"The LORD is certain to save me; So we will ^(C1)play my songs on stringed instruments ^(C2)All the days of our life ^(C3)at the house of the LORD."

Now ^(C1)Isaiah had said, "Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover."

Then Hezekiah had said, "What is the ^(C1)sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?"

^(C1)At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

Hezekiah ^(F1)was ^(C1)pleased, and let them see all his treasure house, the ^(C2)silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the excellent olive oil, his entire armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not let them see.

Then Isaiah the ^(C1)prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far ^(C2)country, from Babylon."

Then he said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah ^(F1)answered, "They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not let them see."

Isaiah then said to Hezekiah, "Hear the ^(C1)word of the LORD of armies,

'Behold, the days are coming when ^(C1)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the LORD.

'And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, ^(C1)will be taken away, and ^(C2)they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

^(C1)Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he ^(F1)thought, "For there will be peace and truth ^(C2)in my days."