Isaiah 38:16

THE MESSAGE

O Master, these are the conditions in which people live, and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive— fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life! It seems it was good for me to go through all those troubles. Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline. You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing. But my sins you let go of, threw them over your shoulder—good riddance! The dead don't thank you, and choirs don't sing praises from the morgue. Those buried six feet under don't witness to your faithful ways. It's the living—live men, live women—who thank you, just as I'm doing right now. Parents give their children full reports on your faithful ways.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Lord, by such things people live,and in every one of them my spirit finds life;you have restored me to healthand let me live.

Hebrew Names Version
Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live.

King James Version
O Lord , by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

English Standard Version
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live!

New American Standard Bible
"Lord, by these things people live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; Restore me to health and let me live!

New Century Version
Lord, because of you, people live. Because of you, my spirit also lives; you made me well and let me live.

Amplified Bible
"O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; Restore me to health and let me live!

World English Bible
Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live.

Geneva Bible (1587)
O Lord, to them that ouerliue them, and to all that are in them, the life of my spirite shalbe knowen, that thou causedst me to sleepe and hast giuen life to me.

Legacy Standard Bible
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!

Berean Standard Bible
O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and let me live.

Contemporary English Version
Your words and your deeds bring life to everyone, including me. Please make me healthy and strong again.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai, by these things people live; in all these is the life of my spirit. You're restoring my health and giving me life —

Darby Translation
Lord, by these things [men] live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; and thou hast recovered me, and made me to live.

Easy-to-Read Version
Lord, use this hard time to make my spirit live again. Help my spirit become strong and healthy. Help me become well! Help me live again!

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, it was for peace that I had great bitterness; but thou hast been pleased with my soul, that it may not waste in corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

Good News Translation
Lord, I will live for you, for you alone; Heal me and let me live.

Lexham English Bible
Lord, they live by them, and the life of my spirit belongs to all among them. And restore me to health and keep me alive!

Literal Translation
O Lord, on them they live, and for all in them is the life of my spirit. And You heal me, and make me live.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Verely (LORDE,) men must lyue in bytternesse, & all my life must I passe ouer therin: For thou raysest me vp, and wakest me. But lo, I wilbe wel content with this bytternes.

American Standard Version
O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.

Bible in Basic English
O Lord, for this cause I am waiting for you, give rest to my spirit: make me well again, and let me come back to life.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
O Lord, by these things men live, and altogether therein is the life of my spirit; wherefore recover Thou me, and make me to live.

King James Version (1611)
O Lord, by these things men liue: and in all these things is the life of my spirit, so wilt thou recouer me, and make me to liue.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
O Lorde, to all those that shall lyue hereafter, yea to all men shall it be knowen, that euen in those yeres I haue a ioyfull lyfe, and that it was thou that causedst me to sleepe agayne, thou hast geuen lyfe to me.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Yea, O Lord, for it was told thee concerning this; and thou hast revived my breath; and I am comforted, and live.

English Revised Version
O Lord, by these things men live, and wholly therein is the life of my spirit: wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Lord, if me lyueth so, and the lijf of my spirit is in siche thingis, thou schalt chastise me, and schalt quykene me.

Update Bible Version
O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Therefore you recover me, and make me to live.

Webster's Bible Translation
O Lord, by these [things men] live, and in all these [things is] the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

New English Translation
O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life; may years of life be restored to me. Restore my health and preserve my life.'

New King James Version
O Lord, by these things men live; And in all these things is the life of my spirit; So You will restore me and make me live.

New Living Translation
Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You restore my health and allow me to live!

New Life Bible
O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit. O heal me, and let me live!

New Revised Standard
O Lord, by these things people live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
O My Lord! on those things do men live, - And, altogether in them, is the life of my spirit, When thou hast strengthened me and made me live.

Douay-Rheims Bible
O Lord, if man’s life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live.

Revised Standard Version
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live!

Young's Literal Translation
Lord, by these do [men] live, And by all in them [is] the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"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!

Contextual Overview

⁹This is what Hezekiah king of Judah wrote after he'd been sick and then recovered from his sickness: In the very prime of life I have to leave. Whatever time I have left is spent in death's waiting room. No more glimpses of God in the land of the living, No more meetings with my neighbors, no more rubbing shoulders with friends. This body I inhabit is taken down and packed away like a camper's tent. Like a weaver, I've rolled up the carpet of my life as God cuts me free of the loom And at day's end sweeps up the scraps and pieces. I cry for help until morning. Like a lion, God pummels and pounds me, relentlessly finishing me off. I squawk like a doomed hen, moan like a dove. My eyes ache from looking up for help: "Master, I'm in trouble! Get me out of this!" But what's the use? God himself gave me the word. He's done it to me. I can't sleep— I'm that upset, that troubled. ¹⁶O Master, these are the conditions in which people live, and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive— fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life! It seems it was good for me to go through all those troubles. Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline. You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing. But my sins you let go of, threw them over your shoulder—good riddance! The dead don't thank you, and choirs don't sing praises from the morgue. Those buried six feet under don't witness to your faithful ways. It's the living—live men, live women—who thank you, just as I'm doing right now. Parents give their children full reports on your faithful ways. ²⁰ God saves and will save me. As fiddles and mandolins strike up the tunes, We'll sing, oh we'll sing, sing, for the rest of our lives in the Sanctuary of God . ²¹Isaiah had said, "Prepare a poultice of figs and put it on the boil so he may recover." Hezekiah had said, "What is my cue that it's all right to enter again the Sanctuary of God ?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 64:5, Deuteronomy 8:3, Job 33:19-28, Psalms 71:20, Matthew 4:4, 1 Corinthians 11:32, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Hebrews 12:10, Hebrews 12:11

Reciprocal: Psalms 118:17 - die Proverbs 3:22 - life John 11:25 - the life

Cross-References

2 Samuel 13:11
Some time later, this happened: Absalom, David's son, had a sister who was very attractive. Her name was Tamar. Amnon, also David's son, was in love with her. Amnon was obsessed with his sister Tamar to the point of making himself sick over her. She was a virgin, so he couldn't see how he could get his hands on her. Amnon had a good friend, Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was exceptionally streetwise. He said to Amnon, "Why are you moping around like this, day after day—you, the son of the king! Tell me what's eating at you." "In a word, Tamar," said Amnon. "My brother Absalom's sister. I'm in love with her." "Here's what you do," said Jonadab. "Go to bed and pretend you're sick. When your father comes to visit you, say, ‘Have my sister Tamar come and prepare some supper for me here where I can watch her and she can feed me.'" So Amnon took to his bed and acted sick. When the king came to visit, Amnon said, "Would you do me a favor? Have my sister Tamar come and make some nourishing dumplings here where I can watch her and be fed by her." David sent word to Tamar who was home at the time: "Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare a meal for him." So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house. She took dough, kneaded it, formed it into dumplings, and cooked them while he watched from his bed. But when she took the cooking pot and served him, he wouldn't eat. Amnon said, "Clear everyone out of the house," and they all cleared out. Then he said to Tamar, "Bring the food into my bedroom, where we can eat in privacy." She took the nourishing dumplings she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. But when she got ready to feed him, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, sister!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

O Lord, by these things men live,.... Not by bread only, but by the word of God: by the promise of God, and by his power performing it; and by his favour and goodness continually bestowed; it is in him, and by his power and providence, that they live and move, and have their being, and the continuance of it; and it is his lovingkindness manifested to them that makes them live comfortably and go on cheerfully:

and in all these things is the life of my spirit; what kept his soul in life were the same things, the promise, power, and providence of God; what revived his spirit, and made him comfortable and cheerful, was the wonderful love and great goodness of God unto him, in appearing to him, and for him, and delivering him out of his sore troubles. Ben Melech renders and gives the sense of the words thus; "to all will I declare and say, that in these", in the years of addition (the fifteen years added to his days) "are the life of my spirit"; so Kimchi. The Targum interprets it of the resurrection of the dead,

"O Lord, concerning all the dead, thou hast said, that thou wilt quicken them; and before them all thou hast quickened my spirit:''

so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live; or rather, "and" or "for thou hast recovered t me, and made me to live"; for the Lord had not only promised it, but he had done it, Isaiah 38:15, and so the Targum,

"and hast quickened me, and sustained me.''

t So Gataker.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O Lord, by these things men live - The design of this and the following verses is evidently to set forth the goodness of God, and to celebrate his praise for what he had done. The phrase ‘these things,’ refers evidently to the promises of God and their fulfillment; and the idea is, that people are sustained in the land of the living only by such gracious interpositions as he had experienced. It was not because people had any power of preserving their own lives, but because God interposed in time of trouble, and restored to health when there was no human prospect that they could recover.

And in all these things - In these promises, and in the divine interposition.

Is the life of my spirit - I am alive in virtue only of these things.

So wilt thou recover me - Or so hast thou recovered me; that is, thou hast restored me to health.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 38:16. By these things men live - "For this cause shall it be declared"] Περι αυτης γαρ ανηγγελη σοι, και εξηγειρας μου την πνοην, Sept. They read in their copies עליה יחוו לך ותחיי רוחי not very different from the present text, from which all the ancient Versions vary. They entirely omit two words, ולכל בהן ulecol bahen; as to which there is some variation in the MSS. One MS. has ובכל ubechol, and in all; two others וכל vechol, and all, and ten MSS. have בהם bahem, in them, in the masculine gender.

Taking this as in the common Version, we may observe, it is not an unfrequent case, that afflictions, and especially such as tend to a speedy death, become the means, not only of saving the soul, but also of lengthening the life.

Make me to live - "Hast prolonged my life."] A MSS. and the Babylonish Talmud read ותחיני vetachayeni, and so the ancient Versions. It must necessarily be in the second person.