Isaiah 38:1-10

Hezekiah Healed

1 1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And 2Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, '3Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.' "
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3 and said, "4Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have 5walked before You in truth and with a 6whole heart, and 7have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah 8wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,
5 "Go and say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add 9fifteen * years to your life.
6 "I will 10deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city."'
7 "This shall be the 11sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken:
8 "Behold, I will 12cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps." So the 13sun's shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, "14In the middle of my life I am to enter the 15gates of Sheol; I am to be 16deprived of the rest of my years."

Isaiah 38:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 38

This chapter gives an account of Hezekiah's sickness, recovery, and thanksgiving on that account. His sickness, and the nature of it, and his preparation for it, as directed to by the prophet, Isa 38:1, his prayer to God upon it, Isa 38:2,3 the answer returned unto it, by which he is assured of living fifteen years more, and of the deliverance and protection of the city of Jerusalem from the Assyrians, Isa 38:4-6, the token of his recovery, the sun going back ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz, Isa 38:7,8, a writing of Hezekiah's upon his recovery, in commemoration of it, Isa 38:9, in which he represents the deplorable condition he had been in, the terrible apprehensions he had of things, especially of the wrath and fury of the Almighty, and his sorrowful and mournful complaints, Isa 38:10-14, he observes his deliverance according to the word of God; expresses his faith in it; promises to retain a cheerful sense of it; owning that it was by the promises of God that he had lived as other saints did; and ascribes his preservation from the grave to the love of God to him, of which the forgiveness of his sins was an evidence, Isa 38:15-17, the end of which salvation was, that he might praise the Lord, which he determined to do, on stringed instruments, Isa 38:18-20, and the chapter is closed with observing the means of curing him of his boil; and that it was at his request that the sign of his recovery was given him, Isa 38:21,22.

Cross References 16

  • 1. 2 Kin 20:1-6, 9-11; 2 Chronicles 32:24; Isaiah 38:1-8
  • 2. Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 37:2
  • 3. 2 Samuel 17:23
  • 4. Nehemiah 13:14
  • 5. 2 Kings 18:5, 6; Psalms 26:3
  • 6. 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 29:19
  • 7. Deuteronomy 6:18
  • 8. Psalms 6:6-8
  • 9. 2 Kings 18:2, 13
  • 10. Isaiah 31:5; Isaiah 37:35
  • 11. Judg 6:17, 21, 36-40; Isaiah 7:11, 14; Isaiah 37:30
  • 12. 2 Kings 20:9-11
  • 13. Joshua 10:12-14
  • 14. Psalms 102:24
  • 15. Psalms 107:18
  • 16. Job 17:11, 15; 2 Corinthians 1:9

Footnotes 5

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