Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
(2 Chronicles 32:24–31; Isaiah 38:1–8)

1In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet went to him and said to him, “Thus says YHWH: ‘Set in order your house, for you shall die and not live.’”

2And he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to YHWH, saying, 3“Please, O YHWH, remember now how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and I have done good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept a great weeping.

4And it came to pass—Isaiah had not gone out to the middle courtyard—† that the word of YHWH came to him, saying, 5“Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, thus says YHWH, the God of David your father: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of YHWH. 6And I will add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city, and I will cover over this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.’”

7And Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that YHWH will heal me, that I shall go up the third day to the house of YHWH?”

9And Isaiah said, “This is to you the sign from YHWH, that YHWH will do the thing that He has spoken: Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go backward ten degrees?”

10And Hezekiah answered, “It is light for the shadow to lengthen ten degrees. No, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

11And Isaiah the prophet cried out to YHWH, and He brought back the shadow by the degrees that it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz—backward ten degrees.

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
(Isaiah 39:1–8)

12At that time Merodach-baladan† son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah listened to them and showed them all the house of his treasure—the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and and the house of his armor, and all that was found among his treasures. There was not a thing that Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his dominion.

14And Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

And Hezekiah said, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.”

15And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

And Hezekiah said, “All that is in my house, they have seen. There is not a thing that I have not shown them among my treasures.”

16And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of YHWH: 17Behold, the days are coming, and will be lifted all that is in your house and that your fathers have accumulated until this day, to Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says YHWH. 18And some of your sons who will go forth from you, whom you will beget, they will be taken and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

19And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of YHWH that you have spoken is good.” For he said, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

20And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the tunnel† and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Judah?

21And Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.