HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS AND RECOVERY

38 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.p The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order,q for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ”B

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly,s and have done what pleases you.”s And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.* t 6 And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.u 7 This is the sign to youv from the Lord that he will do what he has promised: 8 I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’ ”w So the sun’s shadowG went back the ten steps it had descended.

9 A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

10 I said: In the primeH of my lifex

I must go to the gates of Sheol;y

I am deprived of the rest of my years.

11 I said: I will never see the Lord,

the Lord in the land of the living;z

I will not look on humanity any longer

with the inhabitants of what is passing away.I

12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me

like a shepherd’s tent.aa

I have rolled up my life like a weaver;ab

he cuts me off from the loom.ac

By nightfall* you make an end of me.ad

13 I thought until the morning:

He will break all my bones like a lion.

By nightfall you make an end of me.

14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;

I moan like a dove.ae

My eyes grow weak looking upward.

Lord, I am oppressed; support me.a

15 What can I say?

He has spoken to me,

and he himself has done it.

I walk along slowly all my yearsb

because of the bitterness of my soul.c

16 Lord, by such things people live,d

and in every one of them my spirit finds life;

you have restored me to healthe

and let me live.f

17 Indeed, it was for my own well-being

that I had such intense bitterness;g

but your love has delivered me

from the Pit of destruction,h

for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.i

18 For Sheol cannot thank you;

Death cannot praise you.j

Those who go down to the Pit

cannot hope for your faithfulness.

19 The living, only the living can thank you,

as I do today;

a father will make your faithfulness known to children.k

20 The Lord is ready to save me;

we will play stringed instruments

all the days of our lives

at the house of the Lord.l

21 Now Isaiahm had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”

HEZEKIAH’S FOLLY

39 At that timen Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.o There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.p

3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come to you from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”

4 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Armies:q 6 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.r 7 ‘Some of your descendants—who come from you, whom you father—will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.s

GOD’S PEOPLE COMFORTED

40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”t

says your God.

2 “Speak tenderly toA Jerusalem,

and announce to her

that her time of hard service is over,

her iniquityu has been pardoned,v

and she has received from the Lord’s hand

double for all her sins.”w

3 A voice of one crying out:

Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;x

make a straight highway for our God in the desert.y

4 Every valley will be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill will be leveled;

the uneven ground will become smooth

and the rough places, a plain.z

5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,aa

and all humanityB together will see it,ab

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.ac

6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”

Another said,C “What should I cry out?”

“All humanity is grass,ad

and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.a

7 The grass withers, the flowers fade

when the breathA of the Lord blows on them;B

indeed, the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,b

but the word of our God remains forever.”c

9 Zion, herald of good news,

go up on a high mountain.d

Jerusalem, herald of good news,e

raise your voice loudly.

Raise it, do not be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”f

10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,

and his power establishes his rule.g

His wages are with him,h

and his reward accompanies him.

11 He protects his flock like a shepherd;i

he gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them in the fold of his garment.

He gently leads those that are nursing.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?j

Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure

or weighed the mountains on a balance

and the hills on the scales?

13 Who has directedC the Spirit of the Lord,

or who gave him counsel?k

14 Who did he consult?

Who gave him understandingl

and taught him the paths of justice?

Who taught him knowledge

and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;

he lifts up the islands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,

or its animals enough for a burnt offering.m

17 All the nations are as nothing before him;

they are considered by him

as empty nothingness.n

18 With whom will you compare God?

What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?o

19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts

and a metalworker plates with gold

and makes silver chains for?p

20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal

that will not rot.D

He looks for a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not fall over.q

21 Do you not know?r

Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you

from the beginning?

Have you not considered

the foundations of the earth?s

22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.t

He stretches out the heavens like thin clothu

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.v

23 He reduces princes to nothingw

and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.

24 They are barely planted, barely sown,

their stem hardly takes root in the ground

when he blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.x

25 “To whom will you compare me,y

or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

26 Look up and see!

Who createdz these?

He brings out the stars by number;

he calls all of them by name.aa

Because of his great power and strength,

not one of them is missing.

27 Jacob, why do you say,

and Israel, why do you assert,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?a

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,b

the Creator of the whole earth.

He never becomes faint or weary;

there is no limit to his understanding.c

29 He gives strength to the faint

and strengthens the powerless.

30 Youths may become faint and weary,

and young men stumble and fall,

31 but those who trust in the Lord

will renew their strength;d

they will soar on wings like eagles;e

they will run and not become weary,

they will walk and not faint.

THE LORD VERSUS THE NATIONS’ GODS

41 “Be silent before me, coasts and islands!f

And let peoples renew their strength.

Let them approach; let them testify;

let’s come together for the trial.

2 Who has stirred up someone from the east?g

In righteousness he calls him to serve.A,B,h

The Lord hands nations over to him,i

and he subdues kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like wind-driven stubble with his bow.

3 He pursues them, going on safely,

hardly touching the path with his feet.

4 Who has performed and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?

I am the Lord, the first

and with the lastj—I am he.”k

5 The coasts and islands see and are afraid,

the whole earth trembles.l

They approach and arrive.

6 Each one helps the other,

and says to another, “Take courage!”

7 The craftsman encourages the metalworker;m

the one who flattens with the hammer

encourages the one who strikes the anvil,

saying of the soldering, “It is good.”

He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.n

8 But you, Israel, my servant,o

Jacob, whom I have chosen,p

descendant of Abraham, my friendq—

9 I broughtC you from the ends of the earth

and called you from its farthest corners.

I said to you: You are my servant;

I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.r

10 Do not fear, for I am with you;s

do not be afraid, for I am your God.t

I will strengthen you; I will help you;

I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.u

11 Be sure that all who are enraged against you

will be ashamed and disgraced;v

those who contend with you

will become as nothing and will perish.

12 You will look for those who contend with you,

but you will not find them.

Those who war against you

will become absolutely nothing.

13 For I am the Lord your God,w

who holds your right hand,

who says to you, “Do not fear,

I will help you.

14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,x

you menD of Israel.

I will help you”—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

Your Redeemery is the Holy One of Israel.z

15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,

new, with many teeth.

You will thresh mountains and pulverize them

and make hills into chaff.aa

16 You will winnow themab

and a wind will carry them away,

a whirlwind will scatter them.

But you will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched with thirst.

I will answer them.a

I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.

18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,b

and springs in the middle of the plains.

I will turn the desert into a pool

and dry land into springs.c

19 I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees

in the wilderness.d

I will put juniper, elm, and cypress trees together

in the desert,

20 so that all may see and know,

consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,e

the Holy One of Israel has createdf it.

21 “Submit your case,” says the Lord.

“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.

22 “Let them come and tell us

what will happen.g

Tell us the past events,

so that we may reflect on them

and know the outcome,

or tell us the future.

23 Tell us the coming events,h

then we will know that you are gods.

Indeed, do something good or bad,

then we will be in aweA when we see it.

24 Look, you are nothingi

and your work is worthless.

Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

25 “I have stirred up one from the north,j and he has come,

one from the eastk who invokes myB name.l

He will march over rulers as if they were mud,

like a potter who treads the clay.

26 Who told about this from the beginning,

so that we might know,

and from times past,

so that we might say, ‘He is right’?

No one announced it,

no one told it,

no one heard your words.

27 I was the first to say to Zion,C

‘Look! Here they are!’

And I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news.m

28 When I look, there is no one;

there is no counselor among them;

when I ask them, they have nothing to say.n

29 Look, all of them are a delusion;D

their works are nonexistent;

their images are wind and emptiness.