Isaiahchapter 38

A.Set Thine House in Order — the Shadow Goes Back Ten Stepsvv. 1-8

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, 3 And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

B.Hezekiah's Writing: Like a Swallow I Chatteredvv. 9-20

9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: 10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. 11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. 15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. 16 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. 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

C.A Cake of Figs and a Sign for the House of the LORDvv. 21-22

21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover. 22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?

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Chapter summary

Sick unto death, Hezekiah hears Isaiah's word: set thy house in order.

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Sick unto death, Hezekiah hears Isaiah's word: set thy house in order. He turns his face to the wall, prays, and weeps, and Jehovah answers through Isaiah: fifteen years added, the city delivered from the king of Assyria, and a sign, the shadow on the dial of Ahaz returns backward ten steps. The chapter then preserves Hezekiah's own writing after recovery: he laments going to the gates of Sheol in the noontide of his days, his life rolled up like a weaver's cloth; he chatters like a swallow and moans like a dove; then he confesses that God has cast all his sins behind his back, for Sheol cannot praise: 'the living, the living, he shall praise thee.' Two closing notes record the cake of figs laid on the boil and Hezekiah's question about a sign for going up to the house of Jehovah.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–8 Set Thine House in Order — the Shadow Goes Back Ten Steps
B. 9–20 Hezekiah's Writing: Like a Swallow I Chattered
C. 21–22 A Cake of Figs and a Sign for the House of the LORD

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Kings 204 verses
- 2 Kings 20:1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
- 2 Kings 20:7And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
- 2 Kings 20:8And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?
- 2 Kings 20:9And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
- Read 2 Kings 20 →
Psalms 182 verses
- Psalms 18:1I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
- Psalms 18:20The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
- Read Psalms 18 →
Isaiah 372 verses
- Isaiah 37:30And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
- Isaiah 37:35For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
- Read Isaiah 37 →
Psalms 1162 verses
- Psalms 116:2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
- Psalms 116:8For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
- Read Psalms 116 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

2 Chronicles 321 verse
- 2 Chronicles 32:24In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the Lord: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.
- Read 2 Chronicles 32 →
Isaiah 381 verse
- Isaiah 38:1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
- Read Isaiah 38 →
Matthew 61 verse
- Matthew 6:6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
- Read Matthew 6 →
1 Kings 81 verse
- 1 Kings 8:30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
- Read 1 Kings 8 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.