9 A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
¹⁰ I said: In the noontide of my days
   I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
   for the rest of my years.
¹¹ I said, I shall not see the Lord
   in the land of the living;
I shall look upon mortals no more
   among the inhabitants of the world.
¹² My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
   like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
   he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;
¹³   I cry for help until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
   from day to night you bring me to an end.

¹⁴ Like a swallow or a crane I clamour,
   I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upwards.
   O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!
¹⁵ But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
   and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled
   because of the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶ O Lord, by these things people live,
   and in all these is the life of my spirit.
   O restore me to health and make me live!
¹⁷ Surely it was for my welfare
   that I had great bitterness;
but you have held back my life
   from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
   behind your back.
¹⁸ For Sheol cannot thank you,
   death cannot praise you;
those who go down to the Pit cannot hope
   for your faithfulness.
¹⁹ The living, the living, they thank you,
   as I do this day;
fathers make known to children
   your faithfulness.

²⁰ The Lord will save me,
   and we will sing to stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
   at the house of the Lord.