Bible Strands
2 Kings 20:5
“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Isaiah to Hezekiah, who has just prayed and wept after being told he will die. The word reaches Isaiah before he has left the middle courtyard (v.4), compressing the reversal into a single moment.
The words — שׁוּב (shuv, "go back") opens the verse, marking a literal reversal of the death sentence. נְגִיד (negin, "ruler") is a rare royal title, the same word used when Samuel anoints Saul over God's people (1 Sam 9:16).
The thread — Isaiah 38:5 preserves the identical words in the parallel account. The "I have heard" formula echoes Psalm 66:19, and the title negin links back to 1 Samuel 9:16.
Why it lands — The sentence was already pronounced; this is not a first request but a withdrawal. The "third day" is a fixed date, not a vague promise — the reader is asked to hold both the gravity of the original sentence and the specificity of the reversal.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
Cross-references
- Psalms 66:19 But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
- Isaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
- 1 Samuel 9:16 “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
- 2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
- Psalms 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Psalms 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
- Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- James 5:14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
- Psalms 56:8 You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle—are they not in Your book?
- Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”