(2 Kings 20:1–11; 2 Chronicles 32:24–31)
1
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, entered to him, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.”
2
And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord.
3
And he said: “I beg you, Lord, I beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.
4
And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying:
5
“Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days.
6
And I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.
7
And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word, which he has spoken:
8
Behold, I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten lines.” And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through the degrees by which it had descended.
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanksgiving
9
The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had recovered from his sickness:
10
“I said: In the middle of my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought the remainder of my years.(a)
11
I said: I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man, nor the habitation of rest.
12
My longevity has been taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver. While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning until evening, you have marked out my limits.
13
I hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my limits.
14
I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my favor.
15
What can I say, or what would he answer me, since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all my years, in the bitterness of my soul.
16
O Lord, if such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may you correct me and may you cause me to live.
17
Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have cast all my sins behind your back.
18
For Hell will not confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who descend into the pit will not hope for your truth.
19
The living, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons.
20
O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”
21
Now Isaiah had ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed.
22
And Hezekiah said, “What will be the sign that I may go up to the house of the Lord?”
Footnotes