Isaiah 38:1–22

Read down to the center, where the pattern turns; then rise back out through its mirror.

A. 1 Hezekiah sick and at the point of death; Isaiah announces he will not recover.
B. 2-3 Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays to the LORD, weeping bitterly.
B'. 4-5a The word of the LORD comes to Isaiah: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears."
A'. 5b-6 Fifteen years added to Hezekiah's life; deliverance from Assyria promised.

Isaiah 38 . 7 - 22

A. 7-8 Sign from the LORD: the shadow on the dial of Ahaz turns back ten steps.
B. 9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery.
- C. 10 "In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol."
  - D. 11-13 "I shall not see the LORD in the land of the living; my life rolled up, cut off from day to night."
    - E. 14 "Like a swallow I chirp, I moan like a dove; O Lord, I am oppressed — be my pledge of safety!"
    - E'. 15-16 "What shall I say? He has spoken and done it. O Lord, restore me to health and make me live!"
  - D'. 17-19 "In love you delivered my life from the pit; Sheol cannot thank you — the living, they thank you."
- C'. 20 "The LORD will save me; we will play music all our days at the house of the LORD."
B'. 21 Isaiah prescribes a cake of figs applied to the boil, that Hezekiah may recover.
A'. 22 Sign sought: "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?"