Isaiah 38 Summary

Hezekiah becomes sick unto death, and Isaiah the prophet tells him to set his house in order for he shall die. Hezekiah turns to the wall and prays, reminding the LORD of his faithful walk and perfect heart. The LORD hears his prayer and his tears; Isaiah is sent to say the LORD will add fifteen years to his days and deliver him and the city from Assyria's hand. The sign shall be that the sun's shadow shall go backward ten degrees on Ahaz's sundial, and it does. Hezekiah writes of his sickness and recovery, describing how he was cut off from his days and feared he would not see the LORD in the land of the living. In his distress he cried like a crane and chattered like a swallow. The LORD rescued his soul from corruption, cast all his sins behind His back, and he shall sing in the house of the LORD all his days. Isaiah commands a lump of figs to be laid as a plaster on the boil, and Hezekiah recovers.