Sermon Central
Isaiah 38-40
Hezekiah’s Illness 1In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” 2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3“Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.
6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. 7“ ‘This is the LORD ’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised:
8I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.
9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10I said, “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?”
11I said, “I will not again see the LORD himself in the land of the living; no longer will I look on my fellow man, or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12Like a shepherd’s tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life, and he has cut me off from the loom; day and night you made an end of me.
13I waited patiently till dawn, but like a lion he broke all my bones; day and night you made an end of me.
14I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”
15But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul.
16Lord, by such things people live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live.
17Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.
18For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about your faithfulness.
20The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD .
21Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” 22Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD ?”
Envoys From Babylon 1At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery.
2Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?” “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
4The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?” “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.” 5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: 6The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD .
7And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8“The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
Comfort for God’s People 1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD ’s hand double for all her sins.
3A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD
4Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
9You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
10See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
13Who can fathom the Spirit
14Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?
15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
18With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?
19As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
20A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.
21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD ; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.