Isaiah 26
1 In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein.
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.
2 Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in.
Let the doors be open, so that the upright nation which keeps faith may come in.
3 The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee.
The man whose heart is unmoved you will keep in peace, because his hope is in you.
4 You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever.
Let your hope be in the Lord for ever: for the Lord Jah is an unchanging Rock.
5 For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust.
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.
6 The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
It will be crushed under the feet of the poor and the steps of those who are in need.
7 The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in.
The way of the good man is straight; the road of the upright is made smooth by you.
8 And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul.
We have been waiting for you, O Lord; the desire of our soul is for the memory of your name.
9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice.
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.
10 Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.
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.
11 Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies.
Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see: let them see ... yes, your haters will be burned up in the fire.
12 Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our works for us.
Lord, you will give us peace: for all our works are the outcome of your purpose.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name.
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.
14 Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and best destroyed all their memory.
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.
15 Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off.
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.
16 Lord, they have sought after thee in distress, in the tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them.
Lord, in trouble our eyes have been turned to you, we sent up a prayer when your punishment was on us.
17 As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs: so are we become in thy presence, O Lord.
As a woman with child, whose time is near, is troubled, crying out in her pain; so have we been before you, O Lord.
18 We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.
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.
19 Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin.
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.
20 Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away.
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.
21 For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.
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.
