Isaiah:38-40

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* In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death . And Isaiah the prophet , the son of Amoz , went to him and said to him , "Thus says the LORD : "Set your house in order , for you shall die and not live ."' * Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall , and prayed to the LORD , * and said , "Remember now , O LORD , I pray , how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart , and have done what is good in Your sight ." And Hezekiah wept bitterly . * And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah , saying , * "Go and tell Hezekiah , "Thus says the LORD , the God of David your father : "I have heard your prayer , I have seen your tears ; surely I will add to your days fifteen years . * I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria , and I will defend this city ."' * And this is the sign to you from the LORD , that the LORD will do this thing which He has spoken : * Behold , I will bring the shadow on the sundial , which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz , ten degrees backward ." So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down . * This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah , when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness : * I said , "In the prime of my life I shall go to the gates of Sheol ; I am deprived of the remainder of my years ." * I said , "I shall not see Yah , The LORD in the land of the living ; I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world . * My life span is gone , Taken from me like a shepherd 's tent ; I have cut off my life like a weaver . He cuts me off from the loom ; From day until night You make an end of me . * I have considered until morning -- Like a lion , So He breaks all my bones ; From day until night You make an end of me . * Like a crane or a swallow , so I chattered ; I mourned like a dove ; My eyes fail from looking upward . O LORD , I am oppressed ; Undertake for me ! * "What shall I say ? He has both spoken to me , And He Himself has done it . I shall walk carefully all my years In the bitterness of my soul . * 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 . * Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness ; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption , For You have cast all my sins behind Your back . * For Sheol cannot thank You , Death cannot praise You ; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth . * The living , the living man , he shall praise You , As I do this day ; The father shall make known Your truth to the children . * "The LORD was ready to save me ; Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life , in the house of the LORD ." * Now Isaiah had said , "Let them take a lump of figs , and apply it as a poultice on the boil , and he shall recover ." * And Hezekiah had said , "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD ?" * At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan , king of Babylon , sent letters and a present to Hezekiah , for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered . * And Hezekiah was pleased with them , and showed them the house of his treasures--the silver and gold , the spices and precious ointment , and all his armory--all that was found among his treasures . There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them . * Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah , and said to him , "What did these men say , and from where did they come to you ?" So Hezekiah said , "They came to me from a far country , from Babylon ." * And he said , "What have they seen in your house ?" So Hezekiah answered , "They have seen all that is in my house ; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them ." * Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah , "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts : * "Behold , the days are coming when all that is in your house , and what your fathers have accumulated until this day , shall be carried to Babylon ; nothing shall be left ,' says the LORD . * "And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you , whom you will beget ; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon ."' * So Hezekiah said to Isaiah , "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good !" For he said , "At least there will be peace and truth in my days ." * "Comfort , yes , comfort My people !" Says your God . * "Speak comfort to Jerusalem , and cry out to her , That her warfare is ended , That her iniquity is pardoned ; For she has received from the LORD 's hand Double for all her sins ." * The voice of one crying in the wilderness : "Prepare the way of the LORD ; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God . * Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low ; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth ; * The glory of the LORD shall be revealed , And all flesh shall see it together ; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken ." * The voice said , "Cry out !" And he said , "What shall I cry ?" "All flesh is grass , And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field . * The grass withers , the flower fades , Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it ; Surely the people are grass . * The grass withers , the flower fades , But the word of our God stands forever ." * O Zion , You who bring good tidings , Get up into the high mountain ; O Jerusalem , You who bring good tidings , Lift up your voice with strength , Lift it up , be not afraid ; Say to the cities of Judah , "Behold your God !" * Behold , the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand , And His arm shall rule for Him ; Behold , His reward is with Him , And His work before Him . * He will feed His flock like a shepherd ; He will gather the lambs with His arm , And carry them in His bosom , And gently lead those who are with young . * Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand , Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure ? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance ? * Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD , Or as His counselor has taught Him ? * With whom did He take counsel , and who instructed Him , And taught Him in the path of justice ? Who taught Him knowledge , And showed Him the way of understanding ? * Behold , the nations are as a drop in a bucket , And are counted as the small dust on the scales ; Look , He lifts up the isles as a very little thing . * And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn , Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering . * All nations before Him are as nothing , And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless . * To whom then will you liken God ? Or what likeness will you compare to Him ? * The workman molds an image , The goldsmith overspreads it with gold , And the silversmith casts silver chains . * Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot ; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter . * Have you not known ? Have you not heard ? Has it not been told you from the beginning ? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth ? * It is He who sits above the circle of the earth , And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers , Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain , And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in . * He brings the princes to nothing ; He makes the judges of the earth useless . * Scarcely shall they be planted , Scarcely shall they be sown , Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth , When He will also blow on them , And they will wither , And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble . * "To whom then will you liken Me , Or to whom shall I be equal ?" says the Holy One . * Lift up your eyes on high , And see who has created these things , Who brings out their host by number ; He calls them all by name , By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power ; Not one is missing . * Why do you say , O Jacob , And speak , O Israel : "My way is hidden from the LORD , And my just claim is passed over by my God "? * Have you not known ? Have you not heard ? The everlasting God , the LORD , The Creator of the ends of the earth , Neither faints nor is weary . His understanding is unsearchable . * He gives power to the weak , And to those who have no might He increases strength . * Even the youths shall faint and be weary , And the young men shall utterly fall , * But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength ; They shall mount up with wings like eagles , They shall run and not be weary , They shall walk and not faint . * "Keep silence before Me , O coastlands , And let the people renew their strength ! Let them come near , then let them speak ; Let us come near together for judgment .

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