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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Hezekiah compares his weakened voice to the cries of birds and describes the physical toll of his suffering.
Context
Fever and pain have weakened his voice to a thin, trembling thing, like the cry of a bird.
What Does Isaiah 38:14 Mean?
The crane and swallow make thin, high sounds, and so does Hezekiah in his fever. His voice has become foreign to him, no longer the strong speech of a king but a creature's thin chirping. He mourns like a dove, soft and persistent and without hope of comfort. His eyes, worn from looking upward to heaven, fail him. He cannot see, cannot speak with strength, can barely hold his head up.
And yet. In this extremity, he calls out 'O LORD, I am oppressed.' The very weakness of his voice becomes an appeal. A king who has lost everything but his breath calls on God to undertake for him, to become his advocate and defender. In that moment of total vulnerability, Hezekiah places himself entirely into God's hands. His oppression becomes his prayer.
In the Original Language
dagag (דגג), 'chatter' -- to chirp, twitter, make thin, weak bird-like sounds.
Application
Even when weakness has stripped us of strength and we can barely speak, our cries, however faint, reach the ear of God who hears all things.