2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38, John 1:35-2:25, Psalm 64

Hezekiah’s Illness and Restoration

20^aIn those days Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^bSet your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ²Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³“^aRemember now, O Yahweh, I beseech You, ^bhow I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^cHezekiah wept ¹greatly. ⁴Now it happened that Isaiah had not gone out of the middle court, and the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵“Return and say to ^aHezekiah the ruler of My people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, “^bI have heard your prayer, ^cI have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of Yahweh. ⁶“And I will add fifteen years to your ¹life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^aI will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he was restored to life.

⁸Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?” ⁹And Isaiah said, “^aThis shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or turn back ten steps?” ¹⁰So ¹Hezekiah ²answered, “It is easy for the shadow to stretch forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh, and ^aHe turned the shadow on the ¹stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ²stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

¹²^aAt that time ¹Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them ^aall his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the good oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah said, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh. ¹⁷‘Behold, the days are coming when ^aall that is in your house, and all that your fathers have treasured up to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. ¹⁸‘And some ^aof your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become ^bofficials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is ^agood.” For he said, “Will it not be good, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”

²⁰^aNow the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^bmade the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹^aSo Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

38^aIn those days Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. And ^bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^cSet your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh ³and said, “^aRemember now, O Yahweh, I beseech You, how I have ^bwalked before You in truth and with a ^cwhole heart and ^dhave done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah ^ewept ¹greatly.

⁴Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will add ^afifteen years to your ¹life. ⁶“And I will ^adeliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’

⁷“Now this shall be the ^asign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this word that He has spoken: ⁸“Behold, I will ^acause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the ^bsun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and ¹recovery:

¹⁰I said, “^aIn the middle of my ¹lifeI am to enter the ^bgates of Sheol;I am to be ^cdeprived of the rest of my years.”¹¹I said, “I will not see Yah,Yah ^ain the land of the living;I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.¹²“Like a shepherd’s ^atent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;As a ^bweaver I ^crolled up my life.He ^dcuts me off from the loom;From ^eday until night You make an end of me.¹³“I soothed my soul until morning.^aLike a lion—so He ^bshatters all my bones;From ^cday until night You make an end of me.¹⁴“^aLike a swallow, like a crane, so I chirped;I ^bmoan like a dove;My ^ceyes look wistfully to the heights;O Lord, I am oppressed, be my ^dsecurity.¹⁵“^aWhat shall I say?¹Indeed, He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;I will ^bwander about all my years because of the ^cbitterness of my soul.¹⁶“O Lord, ^aby these things men live,And in all these is the life of my spirit;¹^,^bO restore me to health and ^clet me live!¹⁷“Behold, for my own well-being I had great bitterness;But it is You who has ¹^,^aheld back my soul from the pit of ²nothingness,For You have ^bcast all my sins behind Your back.¹⁸“For ^aSheol cannot thank You;Death cannot praise You;Those who go down ^bto the pit cannot keep watch for Your truth.¹⁹“It is the ^aliving, the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;A ^bfather makes known to his sons about Your truth.²⁰“Yahweh is here to save me;So we will ^aplay my songs on stringed instruments^bAll the days of our life ^cat the house of Yahweh.”

²¹Now ^aIsaiah had said, “Let them take up a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may live.” ²²Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the ^asign that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh?”

Behold, the Lamb of God

³⁵^aOn the next day, John again was standing ¹with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^athe Lamb of God!” ³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. ³⁸And when Jesus turned and noticed them following, He *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “^aRabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the ¹tenth hour. ⁴⁰^aOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^aMessiah” (which translated means ¹Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^aJohn; you shall be called ^bCephas” (which is translated ¹^,^cPeter).

⁴³^aOn the next day, He desired to go into ^bGalilee, and He *found ^cPhilip. And Jesus *said to him, “^dFollow Me.” ⁴⁴Now ^aPhilip was from ^bBethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵^aPhilip *found ^bNathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^cMoses in the Law and also ^dthe Prophets wrote—Jesus of ^eNazareth, ^fthe son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, “^aCan any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ^bPhilip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said about him, “Behold, truly an ^aIsraelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^aPhilip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered Him, “^aRabbi, You are ^bthe Son of God; You are the ^cKing of Israel.” ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^athe heavens opened and ^bthe angels of God ascending and descending on ^cthe Son of Man.”

The Wedding at Cana

2And on ^athe third day there was a wedding in ^bCana of Galilee, and the ^cmother of Jesus was there; ²and both Jesus and His ^adisciples were invited to the wedding. ³And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus *said to her, “^aWoman, ¹^,^bwhat do I have to do with you? ^cMy hour has not yet come.” ⁵His ^amother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ⁶Now there were six stone water jars set there ^afor the Jewish custom of purification, containing ¹two or three measures each. ⁷Jesus *said to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. ⁹Now when the headwaiter tasted the water ^awhich had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom, ¹⁰and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people ^ahave ¹drunk freely, then the inferior wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this in Cana of ^aGalilee as the beginning of His ¹^,^bsigns, and manifested His ^cglory, and His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this He went down to ^aCapernaum, He and His ^bmother and His ^cbrothers and His ^ddisciples; and they stayed there a few days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹³^aAnd the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ^bwent up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴^aAnd He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶and to those who were selling ^athe doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making ^bMy Father’s house a ¹place of business.” ¹⁷His ^adisciples remembered that it was written, “^bZeal for Your house will consume me.” ¹⁸^aThe Jews then said to Him, “^bWhat sign do You show us ¹as your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “^aDestroy this ¹sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰^aThe Jews then said, “It took ^bforty-six years to build this sanctuary, and will You raise it up in three days?” ²¹But He was speaking about ^athe sanctuary of His body. ²²So when He was raised from the dead, His ^adisciples ^bremembered that He said this; and they believed ^cthe Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at ^athe Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, ^bwhen they saw His signs which He was doing. ²⁴But Jesus, ¹on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for ^aHe knew all men, ²⁵and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, ^afor He Himself knew what was in man.

The Righteous Will Be Glad in Yahweh

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

Hear my voice, O God, in ^amy ¹complaint;^bGuard my life from dread of the enemy.²Hide me from the ^asecret counsel of evildoers,From the tumult of the ^bworkers of iniquity,³Who ^ahave sharpened their tongue like a sword.They ^baimed bitter speech as their arrow,⁴To ^ashoot ¹from places of hiding at the blameless;Suddenly they shoot at him, and ^bdo not fear.⁵They ¹hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;They ²talk of ^alaying snares secretly;They say, “^bWho can see them?”⁶They searched out unrighteousness, saying,“We have completed a diligent search”;For the ¹^,^ainward thought of a man and his heart are ²deep.⁷But ^aGod ¹will shoot them with an arrow;Suddenly they will be wounded.⁸So ¹they will ^acause their own tongue ^bto turn against them;All who see them will ^cshake their head.⁹Then all men ¹will ^afear,And they ²will ^bdeclare the work of God,And ³will consider ⁴what He has done.¹⁰The righteous man will be ^aglad in Yahweh and will ^btake refuge in Him;And all the upright in heart will boast.