Isaiah 26
1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
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!
2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Open the gates so the nation who follows the right can come in, the nation that stays faithful.
3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
You will keep in complete peace those who keep their minds focused on you, because they trust in you.
4 Trust ye in Yhwh for ever: for in Yah Yhwh is everlasting strength:
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
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.
6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
The poor tread it underfoot; the oppressed walk on top of it.
7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
You God, do what is right, and you straighten out the way for those who live right; you smooth out their path.
8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Yhwh, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Yes, we follow your instructions, Lord, we put our hope in you. What we most want is to remember you and your wonderful character.
9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
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.
10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of Yhwh.
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.
11 Yhwh, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
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!
12 Yhwh, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
Lord, you give us peace and prosperity; everything we've achieved you have done for us.
13 O Yhwh our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
Lord our God, there have been other lords besides you who have ruled us, but you are the only one we worship.
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
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.
15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Yhwh, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
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.
16 Yhwh, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Lord, when we were suffering we came to you, pouring out our prayers like whispers as you disciplined us.
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 in thy sight, O Yhwh.
Just as a pregnant woman giving birth tosses about and cries out in pain, that's what we were like in your presence, 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 earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
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.
19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
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.
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
My people, go inside your homes and close your doors behind you. Hide there for a little while until the fury has passed.
21 For, behold, Yhwh cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
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.”
