Isaiah 39 (LSB)

Compare chapter translations

Chapter Text

39:1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and was growing stronger.

39:2 And Hezekiah was glad about these things and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the good oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

39:3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

39:4 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah said, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

39:5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh of hosts,

39:6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have treasured up to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh.

39:7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

39:8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good.” For he said, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”

Study Lenses

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

The local LSB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "time" and "merodach-baladan" 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 "time" and "merodach-baladan" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.