Isaiah 38:13-22

13 All night I cried out with pain, As if a lion were breaking my bones. I thought that God was ending my life.
14 My voice was thin and weak, And I moaned like a dove. My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven. Lord, rescue me from all this trouble.
15 What can I say? The Lord has done this. My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep.
16 Lord, I will live for you, for you alone; Heal me and let me live.
17 My bitterness will turn into peace. You save my life from all danger; You forgive all my sins.
18 No one in the world of the dead can praise you; 1 The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness.
19 It is the living who praise you, As I praise you now. Parents tell their children how faithful you are.
20 Lord, you have healed me. We will play harps and sing your praise, Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live.
21 Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well.
22 Then King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?"

Isaiah 38:13-22 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 1

  • 1. +238.18Ben Sira 17.27;Baruch 2.17.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. [Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.]
  • [b]. [One ancient translation suggests] I cannot sleep; [Hebrew unclear.]
  • [c]. [Verses 15 and 16 in Hebrew are unclear.]
  • [d]. [Some ancient translations] save; [Hebrew] love.
  • [e]. [Verses 21-22 are placed after verse 6.]
  • [f]. [Verses 21-22 are moved here from the end of the chapter (see 2 K 20.6-9).]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.