Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

In those days, King Hezekiah fell gravely ill. Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, came to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you will die; you will not live."

Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord. Remembering how he had walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart, doing only good in God's sight, Hezekiah implored the Lord.

The Lord heard Hezekiah's prayer and saw his tears. "I will add fifteen years to your life," God said through Isaiah. "Go and tell Hezekiah that I, the God of David your father, have heard your prayer; I've seen your tears. I will extend your life by fifteen years."

The Lord added, "I'll rescue you and this city from the grip of King Assyria, defending it against all harm." This sign would prove that the Lord was keeping his promise: Hezekiah would see the shadow on a sundial move backward ten degrees, as if the sun itself had retreated those steps.

As proof of God's word, the shadow on the sundial reversed its path by ten degrees, returning to a spot it had left hours earlier. The king himself later wrote about his ordeal: "When I was at the peak of my life, I thought I would go down to Sheol's gates; now I'm robbed of the rest of my years."

Hezekiah confessed that he wouldn't see God in this life and wouldn't witness humanity's joys again. His life had been cut short like unfinished weaving, snatched away by relentless illness from dawn till night. "Day after day," he lamented, "you've tormented me like a lion breaking my bones; I'm done for, brought down by sickness."

Hezekiah was consumed by grief and his eyes grew weary from looking upwards to God. He cried out in despair: "O Lord, I'm oppressed; have mercy on me!" But then he acknowledged that God had spoken and acted upon his words, so he would live humbly for the rest of his years, navigating life's hardships with a heavy heart.

Hezekiah petitioned God to restore him to life and vitality, saying, "Men live by these very things; all of them hold the essence of my spirit. Bring me back from death and revive me!" He recalled the depths of sorrow he had experienced but acknowledged that God had delivered him from the pit of corruption out of love for his soul.

Hezekiah recognized that even the dead could not praise or celebrate God's truth, nor could those in the grave experience it. Only the living could give thanks, as he did now; fathers would teach their children about God's faithfulness.

The Lord had come close to saving Hezekiah, so they would sing his praises with stringed instruments for all eternity in the house of the Lord.

Isaiah instructed those around him to apply a poultice made from crushed figs to Hezekiah's boil; he would recover. When this happened, King Hezekiah asked what sign would tell him when it was time to ascend to the temple and worship there.