1 ¶ In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz went to him, and said to him, The LORD says, Set your house in order: for you shall die, and not live.

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward 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 perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept grievously.

4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,

5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, The LORD, the God of David your father, says, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

6 And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

7 And this will be a sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do what he has said;

8 Behold, I will make the shadow that is cast by the sun, on the sun dial of Ahaz, move backward ten degrees. So the sunlight went back ten degrees, after it had already moved downward.

9 ¶ This is what Hezekiah the king of Judah wrote, after he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness:

10 In the prime of my life, I was sure that I would enter the gates of the grave: and be deprived of my remaining years.

11 I thought, Never again will I see the LORD, in the land of the living: never again will I see the people of this world when I am no longer among the inhabitants of this world.

12 My fleshly house was to be pulled down, and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent: I was about to roll up my life like a weaver: as he cuts me free from the loom: from day to night you were about to bring my life to an end.

13 Then I cried for help till morning, thinking, like a lion, he will break all my bones: from day to night you were about to bring my life to an end.

14 I chattered like a crane or a swallow: I moaned like a dove: my eyes are weary of looking upward: O LORD, I am in anguish; you must take charge of my trouble.

15 What can I say? he has promised me, and he has done it: because of my bitter experience, I will walk humbly all my years.

16 O Lord, by these things men live, and by all of them my spirit is kept alive: you give me back my health, and make me live.

17 Behold, my bitter experience has changed to health: by your love you have drawn back my soul from the pit of destruction: for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.

18 For the grave cannot praise you, death can not celebrate you: those who go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth.

19 It is the living, the living, that praise you, as I do this day: fathers will make your faithfulness known to their children.

20 The LORD is going to save me: so let us sing before the LORD’S temple with stringed instruments all the days of our lives.

21 For Isaiah said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he will recover.

22 And Hezekiah asked, What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?