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.

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 which keepeth the truth may enter in.

Open the gates, and let the just people who guard the truth enter.

3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee: ] because he 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 in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength:

You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.

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.

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] uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh 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; the desire of [our] soul [is] to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

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 will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will 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 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 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, [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, 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 ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in 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 will 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 [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.

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 increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the 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 visited thee, 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 in thy sight, 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 earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

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 [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.

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 as it were 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 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.

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.