Isaiah 26
1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; walls and bulwarks doth He appoint for salvation.
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 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation that keepeth faithfulness may enter in.
Open the gates, and let the just people who guard the truth enter.
3 The mind stayed on Thee Thou keepest in perfect peace; because it trusteth in Thee.
The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.
4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever, for the LORD is GOD, an everlasting Rock.
You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.
5 For He hath brought down them that dwell on high, the lofty city, laying it low, laying it low even to the ground, bringing it even to 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 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
The foot will tread it down: the feet of the poor, the steps of the indigent.
7 The way of the just is straight; Thou, Most Upright, makest plain the path of the just.
The path of the just is upright; the difficult path of the just is right to walk in.
8 Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for Thee; to Thy name and to Thy memorial is the desire of our soul.
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 With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me have I sought Thee earnestly; for when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn 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 Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty 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, Thy hand was lifted up, yet they see not; they shall see with shame Thy zeal for the people; yea, fire shall devour Thine adversaries.
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, Thou wilt establish peace for us; for Thou hast indeed wrought all our works for us.
Lord, you will give us peace. For all our works have been wrought for us by you.
13 O LORD our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us; but by Thee only do we make mention of Thy name.
O Lord our God, other lords have possessed us apart from you, but in you alone let us remember your name.
14 The dead live not, the shades rise not; to that end hast Thou punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
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 Thou hast gotten Thee honour with the nations, O LORD, yea, exceeding great honour with the nations; Thou art honoured unto the farthest ends of the earth.
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 have they sought Thee, silently they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them.
Lord, they have sought you in anguish. Your doctrine was with them, amid the tribulation of murmuring.
17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been at Thy presence, 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 as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the land; neither are the inhabitants of the world come to life.
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 Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise — awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust — for Thy dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life 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, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
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, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place to visit upon the inhabitants of the earth their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
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.
