King Hezekiah of Judah lay deathly ill, around 712 BC. The prophet Isaiah came to him with the word of the Lord that he would die. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, wept bitterly, and prayed: 'Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart.' Before Isaiah had left the middle court of the palace, the Lord sent him back to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the LORD: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you... I will add fifteen years to your life.'
Hezekiah asked for a sign. Isaiah offered: 'Shall the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz go forward ten degrees, or shall it go back ten degrees?' Hezekiah answered: 'It is a light thing for the shadow to lengthen. Let it rather go back ten degrees.' Isaiah called to the Lord, and the shadow on the sundial retreated ten degrees — the only recorded astronomical reversal-miracle in Scripture besides Joshua's long day.