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.
4Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5“Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’ ”
7Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
8Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
9Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
10“It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
11Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Envoys From Babylon
12At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
14Then 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 from Babylon.”
15The 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.”
16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17The 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. 18And 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.”
19“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
20As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
希西迦的病危與康復
1那些天，希西迦病危，亞摩斯的兒子以賽亞先知前來對他說：「耶和華說，『你要交待後事，因為你要死了，你的病不能康復。』」 2希西迦把臉轉向牆，向耶和華禱告，說： 3「耶和華啊，求你顧念我怎樣全心、忠誠地事奉你，做你視為善的事。」希西迦痛哭起來。 4當時，以賽亞還沒有走出中院，耶和華對他說： 5「回去告訴我子民的首領希西迦，『你祖先大衛的上帝耶和華說，我已聽見你的禱告，看見了你的眼淚。我要醫治你，三天後你就可以上耶和華的殿。 6我要使你的壽命增加十五年，我要從亞述王手中拯救你和這城。為我自己和我僕人大衛的緣故，我要保護這城。』」
7以賽亞說：「拿一塊無花果餅貼在王的瘡上，他就會痊癒。」
8希西迦問以賽亞：「有什麼兆頭證明耶和華要醫治我，三天後我可以上耶和華的殿呢？」 9以賽亞說：「耶和華要給你一個兆頭，證明祂言出必行。你要日影前進十度還是後退十度呢？」 10希西迦說：「日影前進十度容易，讓日影後退十度吧。」 11以賽亞先知向耶和華祈求，耶和華就使亞哈斯日晷上的日影後退了十度。
巴比倫的使者來訪
12那時，巴拉但的兒子巴比倫王米羅達·巴拉但聽說希西迦病了，便派人送去書信和禮物。 13希西迦接見使者，讓他們觀看國庫裡的金銀、香料、珍貴膏油、所有兵器和一切寶物。希西迦把宮中及國內的一切都給他們看。
14以賽亞先知來見希西迦王，問他：「這些人說了些什麼？他們從哪裡來？」希西迦答道：「他們來自遙遠的巴比倫。」 15以賽亞問：「他們在你宮裡看到了什麼？」希西迦答道：「他們看到了我宮中的一切。我把國庫裡的一切都給他們看了。」
16以賽亞對希西迦說：「你聽著，耶和華說， 17『終有一天，你宮中的一切和你祖先積攢到現在的一切，必一件不留地被擄到巴比倫。這是耶和華說的。 18你的子孫當中必有人被擄去，在巴比倫王的宮中做太監。』」 19希西迦對以賽亞說：「耶和華藉你說的話很好。」因為他想：「至少我有生之年將平安穩妥。」
20希西迦其他的事蹟和成就，包括怎樣建造水池和挖溝引水入城，都記在猶大的列王史上。 21希西迦與祖先同眠後，他兒子瑪拿西繼位。
