The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
Parallel translations
- WEB The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
- BSB The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
- NKJV The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
- NASB “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
- NLT Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.
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
The living praise God and pass his truth to their children, as Hezekiah does today. Restored life becomes a means of worship and witness.
Overview
With emphatic repetition, the king celebrates that the living praise God and teach his faithfulness to the next generation. His healing frees him to worship and to hand down the knowledge of God. Passing God's truth to the children reflects the abiding duty to transmit the faith across generations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Deut 6:7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
- Ps 119:175Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.
- Deut 4:9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
- Ps 78:3–6Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
- Joel 1:3Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
- Gen 18:19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
- Ps 118:17I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
- Exod 13:14–15And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
- Exod 12:26–27And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
- Deut 11:19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
- Josh 4:21–22And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
- Ps 146:2While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
- Ps 145:4One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
- Eccl 9:10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
- John 9:4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 38:19 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.