Isaiah 38:1-22 TLB

[1] It was just before all this that Hezekiah became deathly sick, and Isaiah the prophet (Amoz' son) went to visit him and gave him this message from the Lord: "Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die; you will not recover from this illness." [2] When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed: [3] "O Lord, don't you remember how true I've been to you and how I've always tried to obey you in everything you said?" Then he broke down with great sobs. [4] So the Lord sent another message to Isaiah: [5] "Go and tell Hezekiah that the Lord God of your forefather David hears you praying and sees your tears and will let you live fifteen more years. [6] He will deliver you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend you, says the Lord, [7] and here is my guarantee: [8] I will send the sun backwards ten degrees as measured on Ahaz's sundial!" So the sun retraced ten degrees that it had gone down! [9] When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem about his experience: [10] "My life is but half done and I must leave it all. I am robbed of my normal years, and now I must enter the gates of Sheol. [11] Never again will I see the Lord in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends in this world. [12] My life is blown away like a shepherd's tent; it is cut short as when a weaver stops his working at the loom. In one short day my life hangs by a thread. [13] "All night I moaned; it was like being torn apart by lions. [14] Delirious, I chattered like a swallow and mourned like a dove; my eyes grew weary of looking up for help. 'O God,' I cried, 'I am in trouble-help me.' [15] But what can I say? For he himself has sent this sickness. All my sleep has fled because of my soul's bitterness. [16] O Lord, your discipline is good and leads to life and health. Oh, heal me and make me live! [17] "Yes, now I see it all-it was good for me to undergo this bitterness, for you have lovingly delivered me from death; you have forgiven all my sins. [18] For dead men cannot praise you. They cannot be filled with hope and joy. [19] The living, only the living, can praise you as I do today. One generation makes known your faithfulness to the next. [20] Think of it! The Lord healed me! Every day of my life from now on I will sing my songs of praise in the Temple, accompanied by the orchestra." [21] (For Isaiah had told Hezekiah's servants, "Make an ointment of figs and spread it over the boil, and he will get well again." [22] And then Hezekiah had asked, "What sign will the Lord give me to prove that he will heal me?")