I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- BSB “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- NKJV “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- NASB “Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And Hezekiah wept profusely.
- NLT “Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hezekiah pleads his faithful walk before God and weeps bitterly. He appeals to a life lived in covenant sincerity, not sinless perfection.
Overview
The king asks God to remember his wholehearted devotion, not claiming to be flawless but pleading covenant faithfulness. His bitter weeping shows the depth of his anguish before death. While believers do not earn God's favor, Scripture commends a sincere heart, and ultimately our standing rests on Christ's perfect obedience credited to us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 35
- Neh 13:14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.
- Neh 13:22And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.
- Neh 5:19Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
- 2 Kgs 18:3–6And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
- Neh 13:31And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
- 1 Jn 3:21–22Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
- Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
- 2 Sam 12:21–22Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
- 1 Kgs 8:61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
- Ps 145:18The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
- Isa 38:14Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
- Ps 6:6I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
- 2 Chr 31:20–21And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
- Ps 89:47Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
- Ps 25:7Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.
- Ps 32:2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
- Gen 5:24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
- Jer 4:2And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
- 1 Kgs 3:6And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
- Gen 5:22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
- Gen 8:1And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
- Ps 119:49Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
- John 1:47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
- 2 Cor 1:12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
- Job 1:8And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
- Ps 89:50Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
- Isa 63:11Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
- 1 Kgs 11:4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
- 1 Kgs 15:14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.
- 2 Chr 16:9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
- Ps 102:9For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
- Gen 17:1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
- 1 Kgs 2:4That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
- Heb 5:7Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 20:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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