Yesaya 38:15-16

38:15 What can I say?

He has decreed and acted. ¹ 

I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. ² 

38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;

may years of life be restored to me. ³ 

Restore my health ⁴  and preserve my life.’

[38:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”

[38:15]  ² tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”

[38:16]  ³ tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is meaningless and probably corrupt. It reads literally, “O lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”

[38:16]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.