Hezekiah becomes ill
1 At that time, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. Then Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, went to Hezekiah. He said to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You will soon die. You will not get better. So you must tell your family what to do after your death.” ’
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall and he prayed to the Lord. 3 He prayed, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
4 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 5 ‘Go and say this to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord says, the God that your ancestor David worshipped. I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. So I will let you live for 15 more years. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will keep Jerusalem safe.” ’
7 Isaiah said, ‘The Lord will do what he has promised to do for you. This is how you will know that it will really happen. 8 You can see the sun's shadow when it falls on the stairs that King Ahaz built. The Lord will cause the shadow to go back ten steps on these stairs.’ Then the shadow did go back ten steps!
