38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 1 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” 38:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 38:3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you 2 faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, 3 and how I have carried out your will.” 4 Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 5
38:4 The Lord told Isaiah, 6 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor 7 David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life, 38:6 and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’” 38:7 Isaiah replied, 8 “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” 9 And then the shadow went back ten steps. 10
38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:
38:10 “I thought, 11
‘In the middle of my life 12 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 13 of the rest of my years.’
38:11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord 14 in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. 15
38:12 My dwelling place 16 is removed and taken away 17 from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; 18
from the loom he cuts me off. 19
You turn day into night and end my life. 20
38:13 I cry out 21 until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life. 22
38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo 23 like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. 24
O sovereign master, 25 I am oppressed;
help me! 26
38:15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted. 27
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. 28
38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me. 29
Restore my health 30 and preserve my life.’
38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. 31
You delivered me 32 from the pit of oblivion. 33
For you removed all my sins from your sight. 34
38:18 Indeed 35 Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not 36 praise you.
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
38:20 The Lord is about to deliver me, 37
and we will celebrate with music 38
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” 39
38:21 40 Isaiah ordered, “Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well.” 38:22 Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 39:2 Hezekiah welcomed 41 them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. 42 39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 39:4 Isaiah 43 asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.” 39:5 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord who commands armies: 39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors 44 have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father 45 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 39:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” 46 Then he thought, 47 “For 48 there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”
40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your 49 God.
40:2 “Speak kindly to 50 Jerusalem, 51 and tell her
that her time of warfare is over, 52
that her punishment is completed. 53
For the Lord has made her pay double 54 for all her sins.”
40:3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
40:4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
40:5 The splendor 55 of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people 56 will see it at the same time.
For 57 the Lord has decreed it.” 58
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, 59 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: 60 “All people are like grass, 61
and all their promises 62 are like the flowers in the field.
40:7 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord 63 blows on them.
Surely humanity 64 is like grass.
40:8 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.” 65
40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! 66
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; 67
his military power establishes his rule. 68
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him. 69
40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart; 70
he leads the ewes along.
40:12 Who has measured out the waters 71 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully 72 measured the sky, 73
or carefully weighed 74 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales? 75
40:13 Who comprehends 76 the mind 77 of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor? 78
40:14 From whom does he receive directions? 79
Who 80 teaches him the correct way to do things, 81
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design? 82
40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts 83 the coastlands 84 as if they were dust.
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; 85
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. 86
40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing. 87
40:18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
40:19 A craftsman casts 88 an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; 89
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make 90 an idol that will not fall over.
40:21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 91
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 92
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 93
and spreads it out 94 like a pitched tent. 95
40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One. 96
40:26 Look up at the sky! 97
Who created all these heavenly lights? 98
He is the one who leads out their ranks; 99
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
40:27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me, 100
My God is not concerned with my vindication”? 101
40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 102
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 103
40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble. 104
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help 105 find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, 106
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! 107
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate! 108
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 109
Who 110 officially commissions him for service? 111
He hands nations over to him, 112
and enables him to subdue 113 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 114
41:3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed; 115
he advances with great speed. 116
41:4 Who acts and carries out decrees? 117
Who 118 summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end – I am the one. 119
41:5 The coastlands 120 see and are afraid;
the whole earth 121 trembles;
they approach and come.
41:6 They help one another; 122
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages 123 the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding, 124
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 125
41:9 you whom I am bringing back 126 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 127
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 128
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 129 will be reduced to nothing 130 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 131 you will not find them;
your enemies 132 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 133
men of 134 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 135 the Holy One of Israel. 136
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 137 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 138
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 139
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; 140
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
41:20 I will do this so 141 people 142 will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power 143 has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” 144
41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 145 says Jacob’s king. 146
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 147
so we may examine them 148 and see how they were fulfilled. 149
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 150
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 151
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 152
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 153 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 154
He steps on 155 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 156 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 157
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 158
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 159
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 160
42:1 161 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 162 for the nations. 163
42:2 He will not cry out or shout;
he will not publicize himself in the streets. 164
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 165
he will faithfully make just decrees. 166
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 167
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 168 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 169
42:5 This is what the true God, 170 the Lord, says –
the one who created the sky and stretched it out,
the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, 171
the one who gives breath to the people on it,
and life to those who live on it: 172
42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; 173
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you 174 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 175
and a light 176 to the nations, 177
42:7 to open blind eyes, 178
to release prisoners 179 from dungeons,
those who live in darkness from prisons.
42:8 I am the Lord! That is my name!
I will not share my glory with anyone else,
or the praise due me with idols.
42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; 180
now I announce new events.
Before they begin to occur,
I reveal them to you.” 181
42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!
Praise him 182 from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, 183
you coastlands 184 and those who live there!
42:11 Let the desert and its cities shout out,
the towns where the nomads of Kedar live!
Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully;
let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.
42:12 Let them give the Lord the honor he deserves; 185
let them praise his deeds in the coastlands. 186
42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,
like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; 187
he shouts, yes, he yells,
he shows his enemies his power. 188
42:14 “I have been inactive 189 for a long time;
I kept quiet and held back.
Like a woman in labor I groan;
I pant and gasp. 190
42:15 I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up; 191
I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn streams into islands, 192
and dry up pools of water. 193
42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; 194
I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. 195
I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,
and level out the rough ground. 196
This is what I will do for them.
I will not abandon them.
42:17 Those who trust in idols
will turn back and be utterly humiliated, 197
those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”
42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!
Take notice, 198 you blind ones!
42:19 My servant is truly blind,
my messenger is truly deaf.
My covenant partner, 199 the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. 200
42:20 You see 201 many things, but don’t comprehend; 202
their ears are open, but do not hear.”
42:21 The Lord wanted to exhibit his justice
by magnifying his law and displaying it. 203
42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits 204
and held captive 205 in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” 206
42:23 Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen attentively in the future? 207
42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?
Who handed Israel over to the looters? 208
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
They refused to follow his commands;
they disobeyed his law. 209
42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,
along with the devastation 210 of war.
Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; 211
it burned against them, but they did notice. 212