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.

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.

2 Open the gates, That a righteous nation may enter, Preserving steadfastness.

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

3 You keep [him] in peace [whose] imagination [is] stayed—peace! For he is confident in You.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust in YHWH forever, For in YAH—YHWH [is] a rock of ages,

Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

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,

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.

6 A foot treads it down, Feet of the poor—steps of the weak.

The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7 The path for the righteous [is] uprightness, O upright One, You ponder the path of the righteous.

The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

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.

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 thy enemies shall devour them.

12 O YHWH, You appoint peace to us, For You have also worked all our works for us.

LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

13 O our God YHWH, lords have ruled us besides You, Only, by You we make mention of Your Name.

O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

14 Dead—they do not live, Rephaim, they do not rise, Therefore You have inspected and destroy them, Indeed, you destroy all their memory.

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.

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.

Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far to all the ends of the earth.

16 O YHWH, in distress they missed You, They have poured out a whisper, Your discipline [is] on them.

LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

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.

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.

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 have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance on the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

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.

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.

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.

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 shall be past.

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!”

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.