Isaiah 38-40
Contemporary English Version
Hezekiah Gets Sick and Almost Dies
(2 Kings 20.1-11; 2 Chronicles 32.24-26)
38 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 15 more years, 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.[a]
King Hezekiah's Song of Praise
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.[b]
14 I cry like a swallow;
I mourn like a dove.
My eyes are red
from looking to you, Lord.
I am in terrible trouble.
Please come and help me.[c]
15 There's nothing I can say
in answer to you,
since you are the one
who has done this to me.[d]
My life has turned sour;
I will limp until I die.
16 Your words and your deeds
bring life to everyone,
including me.[e]
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,[f]
and you turned your eyes
away from my sins.
18 (A) 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.[g]
20 You, Lord, will save me,
and every day that we live
we will sing in your temple
to the music
of stringed instruments.
Isaiah's Advice to Hezekiah
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.
Isaiah Speaks the Lord's Message to Hezekiah
(2 Kings 20.12-19)
39 Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah was well, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him. 2 Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oils that were in his storehouse. He even showed them where he kept his weapons. Nothing in his palace or in his entire kingdom was kept hidden from them.
3 I asked Hezekiah, “Where did these men come from? What did they want?”
“They came all the way from Babylonia,” Hezekiah answered.
4 “What did you show them?” I asked.
Hezekiah answered, “I showed them everything in my kingdom.”
5 Then I told Hezekiah:
I have a message for you from the Lord All-Powerful. 6 One day everything you and your ancestors have stored up will be taken to Babylonia. The Lord has promised that nothing will be left. 7 (B) Some of your own sons will be taken to Babylonia, where they will be disgraced and made to serve in the king's palace.
8 Hezekiah thought, “At least our nation will be at peace for a while.” So he told me, “The message you brought from the Lord is good.”
Encourage God's People
40 Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
Give them comfort.
2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem
and announce:
Your slavery is past;
your punishment is over.
I, the Lord, made you pay
double for your sins.”
3 (C)(D) Someone is shouting:
“Clear a path in the desert!
Make a straight road
for the Lord our God.
4 Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
and mountain.
Level the rough
and rugged ground.
5 Then the glory of the Lord
will appear for all to see.
The Lord has promised this!”
6 (E) Someone told me to shout,
and I asked,
“What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
than wild flowers.
7 At the Lord's command,
flowers and grass disappear,
and so do we.
8 Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
will never change.
Your God Is Here!
9 There is good news
for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can[h]
from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah:
“Your God is here!”
10 (F) Look! The powerful Lord God
is coming to rule
with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
and he rewards his people.
11 (G) The Lord cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
in his arms,
while gently leading
the mother sheep.
Who Compares with God?
12 Did any of you measure
the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
on balance scales?
13 (H) Has anyone told the Lord[i]
what he must do
or given him advice?
14 Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
and understanding?
15 (I) To the Lord, all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
are but a handful of sand.
16 The cattle on the mountains
of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
be enough for the fire.
17 God thinks of the nations
as far less than nothing.
18 (J) Who compares with God?
Is anything like him?
19 Is an idol at all like God?
It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
and decorated with silver.
20 (K) Or special wood may be chosen[j]
because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
that won't fall on its face.
God Rules the Whole Earth
21 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been clear
since the time of creation?[k]
22 God is the one who rules
the whole earth,
and we that live here
are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.
23 God brings down rulers
and turns them into nothing.
24 They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt and are carried off
like straw in a storm.
25 The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”
26 (L) Look at the evening sky!
Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
that none of the stars
are ever missing.
The Lord Gives Strength
27 You people of Israel say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?
28 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.
29 The Lord gives strength
to those who are weary.
30 Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall.
31 But those who trust the Lord
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.
Footnotes
- 38.8 steps: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 8.
- 38.13 of me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
- 38.14 help me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 14.
- 38.15 There's … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 38.16 Your … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 38.17 deep pit: The world of the dead, as in verse 18.
- 38.19 about your faithfulness: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 40.9 There … can: Or “City of Jerusalem, you have good news. Shout it as loud as you can.”
- 40.13 the Lord: Or “the Lord's Spirit.”
- 40.20 Or … chosen: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of idols seem to be described: bronze idols covered with gold (verse 19) and wooden idols (verse 20).
- 40.21 Hasn't … creation: Or “Isn't it clear that God created the world?”
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