381 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill . And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord , ' Set 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 , " Remember now , O Lord , I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart , and have done what is good in Your sight ." And Hezekiah wept 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 fifteen e years to your life . 6 "I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria ; and I will defend this city ."' 7 "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord , that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken : 8 "Behold , I will cause the shadow on the stairway , which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz , to go back ten steps ." So the sun'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 , " In the middle of my life I am to enter the gates of Sheol ; I am to be deprived of the rest of my years ." 11 I said , "I will not see the Lord , The Lord in the land of the living ; I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world . 12 "Like a shepherd's tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a weaver I rolled up my life . He cuts me off from the loom ; From day until night You make an end of me. 13 "I composed my soul until morning . Like a lion -so He breaks all my bones , From day until night You make an end of me. 14 " Like a swallow , like a crane , so I twitter ; I moan like a dove ; My eyes look wistfully to the heights ; O Lord , I am oppressed , be my security . 15 " What shall I say ? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul . 16 "O Lord , by these things men live , And in all these is the life of my spirit ; O restore me to health and let me live ! 17 "Lo , for my own welfare I had great bitterness ; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness , For You have cast all my sins behind Your back . 18 "For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness . 19 "It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today ; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness . 20 "The Lord will surely save me; So we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our life at the house of the Lord ." 21 Now Isaiah had said , "Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil , that he may recover ." 22 Then Hezekiah had said , "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord ?"
