Isaiah 38:1-22 CEV

[1] About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. So I went in and told him, "The LORD says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, and so you had better start doing what needs to be done." [2] Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed, [3] "Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, LORD. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right." After this, he cried hard. [4] Then the LORD sent me [5] with this message for Hezekiah: I am the LORD God, who was worshiped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will let you live fifteen years more, [6] while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria. [7] Now I will prove to you that I will keep my promise. [8] Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps. Then the shadow went back ten steps. [9] This is what Hezekiah wrote after he got well: [10] I thought I would die during my best years and stay as a prisoner forever in the world of the dead. [11] I thought I would never again see you, my LORD, or any of the people who live on this earth. [12] My life was taken from me like the tent that a shepherd pulls up and moves. You cut me off like thread from a weaver's loom; you make a wreck of me day and night. [13] Until morning came, I thought you would crush my bones just like a hungry lion; both night and day you make a wreck of me. [14] I cry like a swallow; I mourn like a dove. My eyes are red from looking to you, LORD. I am terribly abused. Please come and help me. [15] There's nothing I can say in answer to you, since you are the one who has done this to me. My life has turned sour; I will limp until I die. [16] Your words and your deeds bring life to everyone, including me. Please make me healthy and strong again. [17] It was for my own good that I had such hard times. But your love protected me from doom in the deep pit, and you turned your eyes away from my sins. [18] No one in the world of the dead can thank you or praise you; none of those in the deep pit can hope for you to show them how faithful you are. [19] Only the living can thank you, as I am doing today. Each generation tells the next about your faithfulness. [20] You, LORD, will save me, and every day that we live we will sing in your temple to the music of stringed instruments. [21] I had told King Hezekiah's servants to put some mashed figs on the king's open sore, and he would get well. [22] Then Hezekiah asked for proof that he would again worship in the LORD's temple.