Isaiah 38:9-20

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.”