Isaiah 26
1 In that day this song is sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city, He makes salvation [for] walls and bulwark.
Some day, [people in] Judah will sing this song: Our city [of Jerusalem] is strong! Yahweh protects our city; He is like [MET] a wall that surrounds it.
2 Open the gates, That a righteous nation may enter, Preserving steadfastness.
Open the gates of the city for people who are righteous; allow people who faithfully [obey Yahweh] to enter the city.
3 You keep [him] in peace [whose] imagination [is] stayed—peace! For he is confident in You.
Yahweh, those who trust in you, those who firmly resolve to never doubt you, you will enable them to feel perfectly peaceful.
4 Trust in YHWH forever, For in YAH—YHWH [is] a rock of ages,
[So] always trust in Yahweh, because Yahweh, [our God], is forever [like] [MET] a huge rock [under which we are sheltered/protected/safe].
5 For He bowed down the dwellers on high, A city set on high He makes low, He makes it low to the earth, He causes it to come to the dust,
He humbles proud people and destroys cities whose people are arrogant. He causes those cities to collapse into the dust/dirt.
6 A foot treads it down, Feet of the poor—steps of the weak.
[When that happens], poor and oppressed people will trample on the ruins.
7 The path for the righteous [is] uprightness, O upright One, You ponder the path of the righteous.
[But as for] righteous people, Yahweh, you do what is right; [it is as though] you cause the paths where they walk to be level and smooth.
8 Also, [in] the path of Your judgments, O YHWH, we have waited [for] You, To Your Name and to Your remembrance [Is] the desire of the soul.
Yahweh, by obeying your laws we show that we trust you to help us; and what we desire is that you will be honored/praised/exalted.
9 I desired You in the night [with] my soul, Also, I seek You earnestly [with] my spirit within me, For when Your judgments [are] on the earth, The inhabitants of the world have learned righteousness.
[All] through the night I [SYN] desire to know you better, and each morning I still want to be with you. [Only] when you come to judge [and punish] people who live on the earth will they learn to do what is right.
10 The wicked finds favor, He has not learned righteousness, He deals perversely in a land of straightforwardness, And does not see the excellence of YHWH.
[But] your acting kindly toward wicked people does not cause them to do what is good. [Even] in places where people do what is right, the wicked people continue to do what is evil, and they do not realize that you, Yahweh, are great.
11 O YHWH, Your hand [is] high—they do not see, They see the zeal of the people, and are ashamed, Also, the fire consumes Your adversaries.
Yahweh, [it is as though] your fist is raised up [ready to strike them], but they do not realize that. Show them that you are very eager to help your people. If your enemies would realize that, they would be ashamed; allow your fire to burn them up [because they are] your enemies.
12 O YHWH, You appoint peace to us, For You have also worked all our works for us.
Yahweh, [we desire that] you will allow things to go well for us; everything that we have done is what you have enabled us to do.
13 O our God YHWH, lords have ruled us besides You, Only, by You we make mention of Your Name.
Yahweh, our God, others have ruled over us, but you [MTY] are the only one whom we honor.
14 Dead—they do not live, Rephaim, they do not rise, Therefore You have inspected and destroy them, Indeed, you destroy all their memory.
Those who ruled us are [now] gone; they are dead; their spirits have left this earth, and they will not become alive [again]. You punished those rulers and got rid of them, and people do not even remember them any more.
15 You have added to the nation, O YHWH, You have added to the nation, You have been honored, You have put all the ends of the earth far off.
Yahweh, you have enabled our nation to become great; we are more in [now], and we have more land, [so we] thank/praise you.
16 O YHWH, in distress they missed You, They have poured out a whisper, Your discipline [is] on them.
Yahweh, when we were distressed, we asked you [to help us]; when you disciplined/punished us, we were able only to whisper when we prayed to you.
17 When a pregnant woman comes near to the birth, She is pained—she cries in her pangs, So we have been from Your face, O YHWH.
Like pregnant women writhe and cry out when they are giving birth, we suffered very much, too.
18 We have conceived, we have been pained. We have brought forth, as it were, wind, We do not work salvation in the earth, Nor do the inhabitants of the world fall.
We had severe pain, but nothing good resulted [MET] from it. We have not rescued our people [from being conquered by our enemies], and we have not given birth to children [who will rule the world correctly] (OR, not defeated the armies [that have attacked other nations].
19 Your dead live—My dead body, they rise. Awake and sing, you dwellers in the dust, For the dew of herbs [is] your dew, And you cause the land of Rephaim to fall.
But Yahweh’s people who have died will become alive [again], their corpses will become alive! Those whose bodies lie in graves will rise and shout joyfully! His light will be [like] dew that falls on his people who have died, who are [now] in the place where the dead people are, [and will cause them to become alive again].
20 Come, My people, enter into your inner chambers, And shut your doors behind you, Hide yourself shortly [for] a moment until the indignation passes over.
But now, my people/fellow-citizens, go home and lock your doors! Hide for a short time, until [Yahweh] is no longer angry.
21 For behold, YHWH is coming out of His place, To charge the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth on him, And the earth has revealed her blood, Nor does she cover her slain anymore!”
Listen to this: Yahweh will come from heaven to punish [all] the people on the earth for the sins that they have committed. People will be able to see [PRS] the (blood of those/the people) who have been murdered; their murderers will no longer be able to hide.
