Isaiah 26
1 In that day will this song be made in the land of Judah: We have a strong town; he will make salvation our walls and towers.
In that day, this canticle will be sung in the land of Judah. Within it will be set the city of our strength: Zion, a savior, a wall with a bulwark.
2 Let the doors be open, so that the upright nation which keeps faith may come in.
Open the gates, and let the just people who guard the truth enter.
3 The man whose heart is unmoved you will keep in peace, because his hope is in you.
The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.
4 Let your hope be in the Lord for ever: for the Lord Jah is an unchanging Rock.
You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.
5 For he has made low those who are lifted up, all the people of the town of pride: he makes it low, crushing it down to the earth; he makes it low in the dust.
For he will bend down those living in the heights. He will bring low the lofty city. He will lower it, even to the ground. He will tear it down, even to the dust.
6 It will be crushed under the feet of the poor and the steps of those who are in need.
The foot will tread it down: the feet of the poor, the steps of the indigent.
7 The way of the good man is straight; the road of the upright is made smooth by you.
The path of the just is upright; the difficult path of the just is right to walk in.
8 We have been waiting for you, O Lord; the desire of our soul is for the memory of your name.
And in the path of your judgments, O Lord, we have endured for you. Your name and your remembrance are the desire of the soul.
9 In the night the desire of my soul has been for you; early will my spirit be searching for you; for when your punishments come on the earth, the people of the world will get the knowledge of righteousness.
My soul has desired you in the night. But I will also watch for you with my spirit, in my inmost heart, from the morning. When you accomplish your judgments upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn justice.
10 Even if you are kind to the evil-doer, he will not go after righteousness; even in the land of the upright he will still go on in his wrongdoing, and will not see the glory of the Lord.
Let us take pity on the impious one, but he will not learn justice. In the land of the holy ones, he has done iniquity, and so he will not see the glory of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see: let them see ... yes, your haters will be burned up in the fire.
Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see it. May the envious people see and be confounded. And may fire devour your enemies.
12 Lord, you will give us peace: for all our works are the outcome of your purpose.
Lord, you will give us peace. For all our works have been wrought for us by you.
13 O Lord, our God, other lords than you have had rule over us; but in you only is our salvation, and no other name will we take on our lips.
O Lord our God, other lords have possessed us apart from you, but in you alone let us remember your name.
14 The dead will not come back to life: their spirits will not come back to earth; for this cause you have sent destruction on them, so that the memory of them is dead.
Let not the dead live; let not the giants rise up again. For this reason, you have visited and destroyed them, and you have perished all remembrance of them.
15 You have made the nation great, O Lord, you have made it great; glory is yours: you have made wide the limits of the land.
You have been lenient to the people, O Lord, lenient to the people. But have you been glorified? You have removed all the limits of the earth.
16 Lord, in trouble our eyes have been turned to you, we sent up a prayer when your punishment was on us.
Lord, they have sought you in anguish. Your doctrine was with them, amid the tribulation of murmuring.
17 As a woman with child, whose time is near, is troubled, crying out in her pain; so have we been before you, O Lord.
Like a woman who has conceived and is approaching the time for delivery, who, in anguish, cries out in her pains, so have we become before your face, O Lord.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have given birth to wind; no salvation has come to the earth through us, and no children have come into the world.
We have conceived, and it is as if we were in labor, but we have given birth to wind. We have not brought forth salvation on the earth. For this reason, the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.
19 Your dead will come back; their dead bodies will come to life again. Those in the dust, awaking from their sleep, will send out a song; for your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the shades.
Your dead shall live. My slain will rise again. Be awakened, and give praise, you who live in the dust! For your dew is the dew of the light, and you shall be dragged down to the land of the giants, to ruination.
20 Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till his wrath is over.
Go, my people! Enter your chambers. Close your doors behind you. Conceal yourselves for a very brief time, until the indignation has passed over you.
21 For the Lord is coming out of his place to send punishment on the people of the earth for their evil-doing: the earth will let the blood drained out on her be seen, and will keep her dead covered no longer.
For behold, the Lord will go forth from his place, so that he may visit the iniquity of each inhabitant of the earth against him. And the earth will reveal its blood, and it will no longer cover its slain.
