Isaiah 38:18

Modern

For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Traditional

For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Literal

For Sheol cannot thank You nor death praise You; those going down to the Pit cannot have hope for Your faithfulness.

Latin

Quia non infernus confitebitur tibi, neque mors laudabit te: non exspectabunt qui descendunt in lacum veritatem tuam.

Hebrew

English

For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Hezekiah’s poem includes both lament (Isaiah 38:9–14) and praise (38:15–20). The praise remains restrained until the final verse.

Theme notes and profiles

Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Psalm 30:9
“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
Psalm 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
Psalm 115:17–18
It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
Psalm 88:10–11
Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
Numbers 16:33
They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
Proverbs 14:32
The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
Matthew 25:46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Luke 16:26–31
And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’
Matthew 8:12
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”