38About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’”H3117H2396H2470H4191H3470H5030H1121H531H935H559H559H3068H1004H6680H4191H2421 2When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,H2396H5437H6440H7023H6419H3068 3“Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.H559H2142H3068H577H1980H6440H571H8003H3820H6213H2896H5869H2396H1058H1065H1419 4Then this message came to Isaiah from the Lord:H1697H3068H3470H559 5“Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life,H1980H559H2396H559H3068H430H1732H1H8085H8605H7200H1832H3254H3117H2568H6240H8141 6and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city.H5337H5892H3709H4428H804H1598H5892 7“‘And this is the sign from the Lord to prove that he will do as he promised:H226H3068H3068H6213H1697H1696 8I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.H7725H6738H4609H3381H8121H4609H271H6235H4609H322H8121H7725H6235H4609H4609H3381 9When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem.H4385H2396H4428H3063H2470H2421H2483 10I said, “In the prime of my life, must I now enter the place of the dead? Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?”H559H1824H3117H3212H8179H7585H6485H3499H8141 11I said, “Never again will I see the Lord God while still in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends or be with those who live in this world.H559H7200H3050H3050H776H2416H5027H120H3427H2309 12My life has been blown away like a shepherd’s tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly, my life was over.H1755H5265H1540H7473H168H7088H707H2416H1214H1803H3117H3915H7999 13I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over.H7737H1242H738H7665H6106H3117H3915H7999 14Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”H5483H5693H6850H1897H3123H5869H1809H4791H3068H6234H6148 15But what could I say? For he himself sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.H1696H559H6213H1718H8141H4751H5315 16Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You restore my health and allow me to live!H136H2421H2416H7307H2492H2421 17Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.H7965H4751H4843H2836H5315H7845H1097H7993H2399H310H1460 18For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness.H7585H3034H4194H1984H3381H953H7663H571 19Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.H2416H2416H3034H3117H1H1121H3045H571 20Think of it—the Lord is ready to heal me! I will sing his praises with instruments every day of my life in the Temple of the Lord.H3068H3467H5058H5059H3117H2416H1004H3068 21Isaiah had said to Hezekiah’s servants, “Make an ointment from figs and spread it over the boil, and Hezekiah will recover.”H3470H559H5375H1690H8384H4799H7822H2421 22And Hezekiah had asked, “What sign will prove that I will go to the Temple of the Lord?”H2396H559H226H5927H1004H3068
39Soon after this, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah his best wishes and a gift. He had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick and that he had recovered.H6256H4757H1121H1081H4428H894H7971H5612H4503H2396H8085H2470H2388 2Hezekiah was delighted with the Babylonian envoys and showed them everything in his treasure-houses—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the aromatic oils. He also took them to see his armory and showed them everything in his royal treasuries! There was nothing in his palace or kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.H2396H8055H7200H1004H5238H3701H2091H1314H2896H8081H1004H3627H4672H214H1697H1004H4475H2396H7200 3Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men want? Where were they from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from the distant land of Babylon.”H935H3470H5030H4428H2396H559H559H582H370H935H2396H559H935H7350H776H894 4“What did they see in your palace?” asked Isaiah. “They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.”H559H7200H1004H2396H559H1004H7200H1697H214H7200 5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:H559H3470H2396H8085H1697H3068H6635 6‘The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.H3117H935H1004H1H686H3117H5375H894H1697H3498H559H3068 7‘Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon’s king.’”H1121H3318H3205H3947H5631H1964H4428H894 8Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.”H559H2396H3470H2896H1697H3068H1696H559H7965H571H3117
40“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.H5162H5162H5971H559H430 2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”H1696H3820H3389H7121H6635H4390H5771H7521H3947H3068H3027H3718H2403 3Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!H6963H7121H4057H6437H1870H3068H3474H6160H4546H430 4Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.H1516H5375H2022H1389H8213H6121H4334H7406H1237 5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”H3519H3068H1540H1320H7200H3162H6310H3068H1696 6A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.H6963H559H7121H559H7121H1320H2682H2617H6731H7704 7The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people.H2682H3001H6731H5034H7307H3068H5380H403H5971H2682 8The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”H2682H3001H6731H5034H1697H430H6965H5769 9O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”H6726H1319H5927H1364H2022H3389H1319H7311H6963H3581H7311H3372H559H5892H3063H430 10Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.H136H3069H935H2389H2220H4910H7939H6468H6440 11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.H7462H5739H7462H6908H2922H2220H5375H2436H5095H5763 12Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?H4058H4325H8168H8505H8064H2239H3557H6083H776H7991H8254H2022H6425H1389H3976 13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?H8505H7307H3068H376H6098H3045 14Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?H3289H995H3925H734H4941H3925H1847H3045H1870H8394 15No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.H1471H4752H1805H2803H7834H3976H5190H339H1851 16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.H3844H369H1767H1197H2416H1767H5930 17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.H1471H2803H657H8414 18To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?H1819H410H1823H6186 19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?H2796H5258H6459H6884H7554H2091H6884H3701H7577 20Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down!H5533H5534H8641H977H6086H7537H1245H2450H2796H3559H6459H4131 21Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant?H3045H8085H5046H7218H995H4146H776 22God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.H3427H2329H776H3427H2284H5186H8064H1852H4969H168H3427 23He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.H5414H7336H6213H8199H776H8414 24They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.H5193H2232H1503H8327H776H5398H3001H5591H5375H7179 25“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.H1819H7737H559H6918 26Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.H5375H5869H4791H7200H1254H3318H6635H4557H7121H8034H7230H202H533H3581H376H5737 27O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?H559H3290H1696H3478H1870H5641H3068H4941H5674H430 28Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.H3045H8085H5769H430H3068H1254H7098H776H3286H3021H2714H8394 29He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.H5414H3581H3287H202H7235H6109 30Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.H5288H3286H3021H970H3782H3782 31But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.H6960H3068H2498H3581H5927H83H5404H7323H3021H3212H3286
Dublin, OH
of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.H7725
