1. About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. Isaiah the prophet went in and told him, “The Lord says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”
2. Hezekiah turned towards the wall and prayed,
3. “Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, Lord. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried hard.
4. Before Isaiah got to the middle court of the palace,
5. the Lord sent him back to Hezekiah with this message:Hezekiah, you are the ruler of my people, and I am the Lord God, who was worshipped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will heal you, so that three days from now you will be able to worship in my temple.
6. I will let you live fifteen years more, while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city as an honour to me and to my servant David.
7. Then Isaiah said to the king's servants, “Bring some mashed figs and place them on the king's open sore. He will then get well.”
8. Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “Can you prove that the Lord will heal me, so that I can worship in his temple in three days?”
9. Isaiah replied, “The Lord will prove to you that he will keep his promise. Will the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”
10. “It's normal for the sun to go forward,” Hezekiah answered. “But how can it go back?”
11. Isaiah prayed, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway built for King Ahaz.