9 This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11 I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world.
12 My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.
13 I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.
14 I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
15 What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16 O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live.
17 Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
20 The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.