2 Kings 20:1-11 - Hezekiah Loses Health And Regains It Through Prayer

¹ In those days Hezekiah became {deathly ill}, and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet came to him and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Command your house, for you [are about] to die; you will not recover.'"

² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³ "O Yahweh, please remember how I went about before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and [remember] the good that I have done in your eyes." Then Hezekiah {wept bitterly}.

⁴ Isaiah had not gone out from the middle of the city when the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵ "Return; you must say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'Thus says Yahweh the God of David your ancestor, "I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Look, I [am about to] heal you. On the third day you shall go up [to] the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." '"

⁷ Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs," so they took and put it on the skin sores, and he lived.

⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day [to] the temple of Yahweh?"

⁹ Isaiah said, "This [is] the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?"

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backwards ten steps." ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet called to Yahweh, and he brought back the shadow on the steps where it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz, backwards ten steps.