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From: Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8

Illness and cure of Hezekiah

In 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.” [2] Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, [3] and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. [4] Then 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. [6] I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.

[21] Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and apply to the boil, that he may recover.” [22] Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

[7] “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: [8] Behold, 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.

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Commentary:

38:1-22. Hezekiah’s faith and devotion were tested during the siege of Jerusalem: now comes a further test: the king falls gravely ill, even though he is still a young man. This time, too, he turns to God, and his prayer is answered. Isaiah’s intervention (vv. 4-8) assures the king that his health will he restored; the defence of the city requires it.

Here we are given a further example of Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord as against Ahaz’s lack of faith. The Lord offers him a sign (just as he did his father) that he will keep his word (vv. 7-8; cf. 7:14). After this, Hezekiah’s canticle is inserted (vv. 9-20) — a passage which does not appear in the parallel texts in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and which has features of the sapiential writing style. The poem takes the form of a thanksgiving psalm spoken by the king. When all seemed lost (vv. 10-12), he had recourse to the Lord in humble and trusting prayer (vv.13-16), and God saved him from death (v. 17). Therefore, the psalmist expresses his great desire to worship the Lord in the temple (cf. v. 22) along with the rest of the community (vv. 18-20). Verses 21-22 fit in better (as St Jerome points out) after vv. 6-7, which is where they appear in the parallel account (2 Kings 20:7).

38:8. From the text of the book of Isaiah found at Qumran we know that Ahaz had built a flight of steps that worked as a sundial, so that the time could he told depending on which steps were in shadow. “Turning the sun back” meant extending the day by a few hours — a sign that God would grant the king some more years of life.