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The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
Isaiah 38:19 · New King James Version
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.
  • KJV The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
  • BSB The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
  • 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 you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
  • Ps 119:175Let my soul live, that I may praise you. Let your ordinances help me.
  • Deut 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
  • Ps 78:3–6Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
  • Joel 1:3Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.
  • Gen 18:19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”
  • Ps 118:17I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.
  • Exod 13:14–15It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.
  • Exod 12:26–27It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
  • Deut 11:19You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
  • Josh 4:21–22He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’
  • Ps 146:2While I live, I will praise Yahweh. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
  • Ps 145:4One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.
  • Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
  • John 9:4I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 38:19YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.