Study Desk

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,

"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 ⁽ⁱ⁾fifteen years to your ^[c]life.

I will ^(j)deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city."'

"This shall be the ^(k)sign to you from the Lord , that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:

Behold, I will ^(l)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 ^(m)sun's shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and ^[d]recovery:

I said, "⁽ⁿ⁾In the middle of my ^[e]life I am to enter the ^(o)gates of Sheol; I am to be ^(p)deprived of the rest of my years."

I said, "I will not see the Lord , The Lord ^(q)in the land of the living; I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

"Like a shepherd's ^(r)tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a ^(s)weaver I ^(t)rolled up my life. He ^(u)cuts me off from the loom; From ^(v)day until night You make an end of me.

"I composed my soul until morning. ^(w)Like a lion—so He ^(x)breaks all my bones, From ^(y)day until night You make an end of me.

"^(z)Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I ^(aa)moan like a dove; My ^(ab)eyes look wistfully to the heights; O Lord, I am oppressed, be my ^(ac)security.

"^(ad)What shall I say? ^[f]For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will ^(ae)wander about all my years because of the ^(af)bitterness of my soul.

"O Lord, ^(ag)by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; ^[g](ah)O restore me to health and ^(ai)let me live!

"Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has ^[h](aj)kept my soul from the pit of ^[i]nothingness, For You have ^(ak)cast all my sins behind Your back.

"For ^(al)Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down ^(am)to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

"It is the ^(an)living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A ^(ao)father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

"The Lord will surely save me; So we will ^(ap)play my songs on stringed instruments ^(aq)All the days of our life ^(ar)at the house of the Lord ."

Now ^(as)Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover."

Then Hezekiah had said, "What is the ^(at)sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord ?"