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Isaiah 38

Hezekiah’s recovery turns his lament over a life cut short into praise for God’s love, forgiveness, and gift of life.

King Hezekiah of Judah is near death when Isaiah tells him to set his house in order. Hezekiah turns toward the wall, prays, and weeps. YHWH sends Isaiah back with a promise of fifteen more years and protection from Assyria, confirmed by a shadow moving backward ten steps. Hezekiah’s writing recounts his fear of death and his gratitude for recovery. The closing verses record Isaiah’s instruction to treat the boil with figs and Hezekiah’s request for a sign.

illness or diagnosisanswered prayerdeath and what comes after
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1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.’”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3and said, “Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.
5“Go, and tell 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.
6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
7This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has spoken.
8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.”’” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.
9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness:
10I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”
11I said, “I won’t see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
13I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
14I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”
15What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them. You restore me, and cause me to live.
17Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
20The LORD will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the LORD’s house.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’s house?”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 38:17Hezekiah understands his rescue from death through God’s love and forgiveness, while still naming the anguish he endured.
Isaiah 38:18His description of Sheol explains his dread of death as the loss of life’s praise and hope.
Isaiah 38:19Restored life means renewed praise and the chance for a father to teach his children God’s truth.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Kings recounts the same illness, promise of added years, and sign, while 2 Chronicles also records Hezekiah’s illness and God’s response. Psalm shares the language of tears, rescue from death, and praise among the living; Job shares images of fragile life and a weaver’s work.

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After reading the whole chapter

Which image in Hezekiah’s account best captures what he feared losing, and why?

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What stands out to you about the connection between restored life, praise, and teaching children?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 38

Does Isaiah 38 promise healing to everyone who prays?

The promise of fifteen more years is addressed to Hezekiah through Isaiah. The chapter records God hearing his prayer and seeing his tears, without giving every sick person the same outcome. It also includes treatment: Isaiah directs that a fig poultice be placed on Hezekiah’s boil.

What does Isaiah 38 mean when it says Sheol cannot praise God?

Sheol names the realm of the dead. Hezekiah’s poem describes death as departure from the land of the living, where people praise God and teach children his truth. These lines express his dread of losing that life; they do not provide a complete account of existence after death.

What was the sign God gave Hezekiah in Isaiah 38?

God promised that the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz would return backward ten steps, and the account says this happened. The sign confirmed that YHWH would fulfill his word to Hezekiah. The text does not explain the physical mechanism or describe the sundial’s construction in detail.

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What the Bible says about death →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).