1Senere blev Hizkija alvorligt syg og lå for døden. Da kom profeten Esajas til ham og sagde: „Gør dig klar til at dø, for Herren siger, du ikke bliver rask igen.”2Esajas gik derefter sin vej, og Hizkija vendte ansigtet mod væggen.3„Åh, Herre,” tryglede han, „husk dog på, hvordan jeg altid har bestræbt mig på at adlyde dig og behage dig i alt, hvad jeg har foretaget mig.” Og han græd højt.4-5„Gå tilbage til Hizkija,” sagde Herren til Esajas. „Sig til ham: Herren, din forfar Davids Gud, har hørt din bøn og set dine tårer. Jeg vil give dig endnu 15 år at leve i,6og jeg vil frelse både dig og Jerusalem fra assyrerkongen!”7„Tegnet på, at Herren vil gøre, som han har sagt,8er, at han vil lade skyggen på Ahaz’ solur gå ti streger tilbage!” lød svaret. Og sådan skete det. Skyggen gik ti streger tilbage på soluret.
Et digt af Hizkija
9Efter at kong Hizkija var blevet helbredt for sin sygdom, skrev han følgende digt:10Jeg troede, at mine dage var talte, at jeg skulle dø i min bedste alder.11Jeg troede, det var slut med at høre fra Herren, at jeg skulle forlade de levendes land. Aldrig mere skulle jeg i den verden se et menneske, jeg kendte så godt.12Som et telt ville mit liv blive taget ned og foldet sammen. Som et vævet stykke stof ville jeg få trådene klippet over, blive taget af væven og rullet sammen. Du var ved at slukke mit livslys og føre mig ind i dødens mørke.[1]13Hele natten råbte jeg om hjælp. Det var, som om en løve knuste mine knogler. Du var ved at slukke mit livslys og føre mig ind i dødens mørke.14Jeg klynkede, klagede og kaldte på dig. Mine øjne var udmattede af at spejde efter hjælp: Frels mig, Herre, min nød er stor!15Hvad skal jeg sige? Du talte til mig og afsagde min dødsdom. Søvnen veg fra mig, jeg sørgede dybt i min sjæl.16Herre, det er dit ord, som giver mennesker liv. Åh, giv mig mit helbred tilbage, lad mig få lov til at leve!17Da blev min sorg vendt til glæde og fred. Du reddede mig fra dødsrigets afgrund. Alle mine synder har du lagt væk.18Fra dødsriget får du ingen lovsang, de døde takker dig ikke og kan ikke se frem til din redning.19Men de levende, de kan takke dig, som jeg gør det i dag, og fortælle deres børn om din hjælp og trofasthed.20Det er Herren, der er vores redning. Lad os lovsynge ham med sang og musik i Herrens hus, så længe vi lever.21Esajas sagde så til kongens tjenere, at de skulle lægge et figenplaster på det syge sted, for så ville kongen blive rask.[2] (2.Kong 20,7)22Hizkija spurgte Esajas: „Hvilket tegn får jeg på, at Herren virkelig vil helbrede mig, så jeg kan gå op til Herrens hus?”
1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[1] (2.Kong 20,1; 2.Kong 20,9; 2.Krøn 32,24; Es 1,1)2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,3and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (2.Kong 18,5)4Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah:5“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.[2] (2.Kong 18,2; 2.Kong 18,13)6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. (Es 37,35)7“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised:8Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[3] (2.Kong 20,9)9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:10I said, In the middle[4] of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. (Salm 102,24)11I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. (Salm 27,13; Salm 88,5)12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end; (Job 4,20; Job 6,9; Job 7,6; Salm 73,14; 2.Kor 5,1; Heb 1,12)13I calmed myself[5] until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end. (Salm 30,5; Salm 38,3)14Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! (Salm 69,3; Salm 86,17; Salm 119,122; Es 59,11; Jer 8,7; Heb 7,22)15What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. (1.Kong 21,27)16O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! (5.Mos 8,3)17Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. (Salm 103,12; Salm 119,67; Salm 119,75; Mika 7,19)18For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. (Salm 88,10; Salm 115,17; Præd 9,10)19The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness. (5.Mos 4,9; 5.Mos 6,7; Salm 78,3)20The Lord will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord. (2.Kong 20,5)21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” (2.Kong 20,7)22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”