2 Kings 20 · Verse 3

2 Kings 20:3

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.
2 Kings 20:3, King James Version

2 Kings 20:3 in other translations

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.
WEB“Remember now, LORD, 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.
ASVRemember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, 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.
YLT‘I pray Thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which is good in Thine eyes I have done;' and Hezekiah weepeth--a great weeping.
DARBYAh! Jehovah, remember, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept much.
BBEO Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.
WebsterI 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 grievously.

What does 2 Kings 20:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. remember now how I have walked before thee, &c.--The course of Hezekiah's thoughts was evidently directed to the promise made to David and his successors on the throne (1Ki 8:25). He had kept the conditions as faithfully as human infirmity admitted; and as he had been all along free from any of those great crimes by which, through the judgment of God, human life was often suddenly cut short, his great grief might arise partly from the love of life, partly from the obscurity of the Mosaic dispensation, where life and immortality had not been fully brought to light, and partly from his plans for the reformation of his kingdom being frustrated by his death. He pleaded the fulfilment of the promise.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 I beseech thee, O Lord - Hezekiah knew that, although the words of Isaiah were delivered to him in an absolute form, yet they were to be conditionally understood, else he could not have prayed to God to reverse a purpose which he knew to be irrevocable. Even this passage is a key to many prophecies and Divine declarations: see Isa 18:1-7 of Jeremiah. Hezekiah pleads his uprightness and holy conduct in his own behalf. Was it impious to do so? No; but it certainly did not savor much either of humility or of a due sense of his own weakness. If he had a perfect heart, who made it such? - God. If he did good in God's sights who enabled him to do so? - God. Could he therefore plead in his behalf dispositions and actions which he could neither have felt nor practiced but by the power of the grace of God? I trow not. But the times of this ignorance God winked at. The Gospel teaches us a different lesson. Wept sore - How clouded must his prospects of another world have been! But it is said that, as he saw the nation in danger from the Assyrian army, which was then invading it, and threatened to destroy the religion of the true God, he was greatly affected at the news of his death, as he wished to live to see the enemies of God overthrown. And therefore God promises that he will deliver the city out of the hands of the king of Assyria, at the same time that he promises him a respite of fifteen years, 2Kgs 20:6. His lamentation on this occasion may be seen in Isaiah, Isa 38:9-22.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 20:1-11

Hezekiah was sick unto death, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. A warning to prepare for death was brought to Hezekiah by Isaiah. Prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in strength and grace from God, to enable us to finish well. He wept sorely: some gather from hence that he was unwilling to die; it is in the nature of man to dread the separation of…

Read the full comment on 2 Kings 20:1-11 →

2 Kings 20:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אָנָּ֣ה'a.NahI beg youH577
יְהוָ֗הYah.wehO YahwehH3068
זְכָר\־ze.khor-rememberH2142
נָ֞אna'pleaseH4994
אֵ֣ת'et<obj.>H853
אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherthis:H834
הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּיhit.ha.Lakh.tiI have walked aboutH1980
לְפָנֶ֗יךָle.fa.Nei.kha<to> before youH6440
בֶּֽאֱמֶת֙be.'e.Metin faithfulnessH571
וּבְלֵבָ֣בu.ve.le.Vavand with a heartH3824
שָׁלֵ֔םsha.LemcompleteH8003
וְהַטּ֥וֹבve.ha.Tovand the goodH2896
בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָbe.'ei.Nei.khain view yourH5869
עָשִׂ֑יתִי'a.Si.tiI have doneH6213
וַיֵּ֥בְךְּvai.Ye.vekand he weptH1058
חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּchiz.ki.Ya.huHezekiahH2396
בְּכִ֥יbe.KhiweepingH1065
גָדֽוֹל\׃\ \סga.DolgreatH1419

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 20:3

  • Nehemiah 13:14

    Remember 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.

  • Nehemiah 13:22

    And 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.

  • 2 Kings 18:3-6

    And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

  • Nehemiah 5:19

    Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

  • Nehemiah 13:31

    And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

  • 1 John 3:21-22

    Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

  • Luke 1:6

    And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

  • 1 Kings 8:61

    Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

  • Isaiah 38:14

    Like 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.

  • Psalms 145:18

    The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

  • 2 Samuel 12:21-22

    Then 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. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

  • 1 Kings 11:4

    For 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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
remember.
Ge 8:1; Ne 5:19; 13:14,22,31; Ps 25:7; 89:47,50; 119:49; Isa 63:11
I have walked.
18:3-6; Ge 5:22,24; 17:1; 1Ki 2:4; 3:6; Job 1:1,8; Lu 1:6
in truth.
2Ch 31:20,21; Ps 32:2; 145:18; Jer 4:2; Joh 1:47; 2Co 1:12
1Jo 3:21,22
a perfect heart.
1Ki 8:61; 11:4; 15:14; 2Ch 16:9
wept sore. Heb. wept with a great weeping.
2Sa 12:21,22; Ps 6:6; 102:9; Isa 38:14; Heb 5:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Kings 20:2

    Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,

  • 2 Kings 20:3

    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.

  • 2 Kings 20:4

    And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

Read all of 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ruégote, oh Jehová, ruégote hagas memoria de que he andado delante de ti en verdad é íntegro corazón, y que he hecho las cosas que te agradan. Y lloró Ezechîas con gran lloro.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Hélas, Éternel! souviens-toi, je te prie, que j’ai marché devant toi en vérité et avec un cœur parfait, et que j’ai fait ce qui est bon à tes yeux. Et Ézéchias versa beaucoup de larmes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ach, Jehova! Gedenke doch, daß ich in Wahrheit und mit ungeteiltem Herzen vor deinem Angesicht gewandelt, und getan habe, was gut ist in deinen Augen! Und Hiskia weinte sehr.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Obsecro, Domine: memento, quæso, quomodo ambulaverim coram te in veritate, et in corde perfecto, et quod placitum est coram te fecerim. Flevit itaque Ezechias fletu magno.