Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” ¹  And then the shadow went back ten steps. ² 

before I depart, never to return, ¹  to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow, ² 

My eyes have grown dim ¹  with grief; my whole frame ²  is but a shadow.

The lotus trees conceal it in their ¹  shadow; the poplars by the stream conceal it.

The mountains were covered by its shadow, the highest cedars ¹  by its branches.

People ¹  are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears. ² 

Like a servant ¹  longing for the evening shadow, ²  and like a hired man looking ³  for his wages, ⁴ 

For we were born yesterday ¹  and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow. ² 

He grows up ¹  like a flower and then withers away; ²  he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. ³ 

Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! ¹  Hide me in the shadow of your wings! ² 

I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; ¹  I am shaken off like a locust.

Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it ¹  to go back ten steps.”

Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord ¹  made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz. ² 

For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; ¹  our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security. ² 

Let darkness and the deepest shadow ¹  claim it; ²  let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day ³  terrify it!

to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, ¹  where even the light ²  is like darkness.” ³ 

As for you, the one who lives ²  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ³  and resides in the protective shadow ⁴  of the mighty king ⁵  –

But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they ¹  prolong their ²  days like a shadow, ³  because they ⁴  do not stand in fear ⁵  before God.

Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” ¹ 

like heat ¹  in a dry land, you humble the boasting foreigners. ²  Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, ³  so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. ⁴