Isaiah 39 (DRB)

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Chapter Text

39:1 At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered.

39:2 And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the storehouses of his aromatical spices, and of the silver, and of the gold, and of the sweet odours, and of the precious ointment, and all the storehouses of his furniture, and all things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion that Ezechias shewed them not.

39:3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said: From a far country they came to me, from Babylon.

39:4 And he said: What saw they in thy house? And Ezechias said: All things that are in my house have they seen, there was not any thing which I have not shewn them in my treasures.

39:5 And Isaiah said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord of hosts.

39:6 Behold the days shall come that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried away into Babylon: there shall not any thing be left, saith the Lord.

39:7 And of thy children, that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

39:8 And Ezechias said to Isaiah: The word of the Lord, which he hath spoken, is good. And he said: Only let peace and truth be in my days.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "all things", "time", "merodach", "baladan", "king", "babylon", "sent", and "letters". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "all things" and "time", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local DRB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "all things" and "time" carries the first interpretive weight. In The Suffering Servant Bears Iniquity, the local focus is the servant of the LORD, atonement, and judgment and restoration.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "all things" and "time" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.