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13 I cry out[a] until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life.[b]
14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo[c] like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky.[d]
O Lord,[e] I am oppressed;
help me![f]
15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted.[g]
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief.[h]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 38:13 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivvaʿti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shavaʿ), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
  2. Isaiah 38:13 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
  3. Isaiah 38:14 tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”
  4. Isaiah 38:14 tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”
  5. Isaiah 38:14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  6. Isaiah 38:14 tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.
  7. Isaiah 38:15 tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”
  8. Isaiah 38:15 tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”