Isaiah 26
1 At that time, this will be the song that is sung in the land of Judah: “Ours is a strong city! Its walls and defenses are our salvation!
On that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: A strong city have we; his aid will he grant [us] as walls and defence.
2 Open the gates so the nation who follows the right can come in, the nation that stays faithful.
Open ye the gates, that there may enter in the righteous nation which guardeth the truth.
3 You will keep in complete peace those who keep their minds focused on you, because they trust in you.
The confiding mind wilt thou keep in perfect peace; because he trusteth in thee.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
Trust ye in the Lord unto eternity; for in Yah the Lord is everlasting protection.
5 He brings down those who live so high and mighty; he demolishes the proud city with its high walls, bringing it down to the ground, into the dust.
For he bendeth down the dwellers of the height; the lofty fortress—he layeth it low; he layeth it low, along the ground; he casteth it down to the dust.
6 The poor tread it underfoot; the oppressed walk on top of it.
The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
7 You God, do what is right, and you straighten out the way for those who live right; you smooth out their path.
The path of the just is straight: thou, most upright, dost ever level the road of the just.
8 Yes, we follow your instructions, Lord, we put our hope in you. What we most want is to remember you and your wonderful character.
Yea, on the path of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; for thy name, and for the remembrance of thee, was the longing of our soul.
9 I look for you in the night; deep inside me I long for you. When your laws are shown to the earth, then the people of the world learn what is right.
In my soul have I longed for thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek for thee; for when thy judgments are [sent] on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though grace is shown to the wicked, they don't learn to do right. Even in a country where people do what's right, they continue to do evil and they don't think about how great the Lord is.
If favor be shown to the wicked, he will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not regard the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, you are holding your hand up, but they don't see it. Let them see your passionate commitment for your people, and be embarrassed; may the fire reserved for your enemies destroy them!
Lord, thy hand was raised high, but they would not see: oh that they might see, and be ashamed, [thy] zeal for the people; yea, the fire which shall devour them—thy enemies.
12 Lord, you give us peace and prosperity; everything we've achieved you have done for us.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for also all our works hast thou accomplished for us.
13 Lord our God, there have been other lords besides you who have ruled us, but you are the only one we worship.
O Lord our God, lords have had dominion over us beside thee; [but] of thee only would we make mention, —of thy name.
14 They are dead, they will not live again; they will not rise from the grave. Lord, you punished them and destroyed them—even wiping out every memory about them.
[They are] dead, they will not live [again]; [they are] departed, they will not rise [again]; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made to perish every memorial of them.
15 You have made the nation grow, Lord, you have made the nation grow. You have expanded our borders of the land, and we honored you.
Thou hast done more for the nation, O Lord, thou hast done more for the nation; thou hast glorified thyself: thou hast enlarged all the ends of the earth.
16 Lord, when we were suffering we came to you, pouring out our prayers like whispers as you disciplined us.
Lord, in trouble have they sought thee, they poured out earnest prayers when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Just as a pregnant woman giving birth tosses about and cries out in pain, that's what we were like in your presence, Lord.
Like as a pregnant woman, that is near giving birth, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs: so have we been in thy presence, O Lord.
18 However, even though we became pregnant and we tossed about in pain, we gave birth to nothing but air. We did not bring about the salvation of the earth, and the people of the world have not become alive.
We have been pregnant and in pain, [but it was] as though we brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the land; and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 But those who died in you, Lord, will live! Their bodies will rise again! Wake up, and sing for joy, you people sleeping in the dust, for the dew you receive is like the dew of the morning giving life to those in the grave.
Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing ye, that dwell in the dust; for a dew on herbs is thy dew, and the earth shall cast out the departed.
20 My people, go inside your homes and close your doors behind you. Hide there for a little while until the fury has passed.
Go, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee: hide thyself but for a little moment, until the indignation be passed away.
21 Watch out! The Lord is coming from where he lives to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will reveal the blood that has been shed on it; the earth won't hide those who have been killed any no longer.”
For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth on them: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more be a cover over her slain.
