Isaiah 26

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

2 Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.

3 You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

4 Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

5 For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.

6 Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.

8 Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.

9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

10 Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

11 O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

12 O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

13 O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.

14 The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.

16 O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

17 As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

18 We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1 In that day shall they sing such a song in the land of Judah, saying, We have a strong city; the wall and the defence are salvation.

2 Open the gates, that the righteous people which keep the faith may enter in.

3 Thou shalt always have peace according to a certain promise: for they trust in thee.

4 Therefore rely upon the LORD for ever: for the LORD God is a rock for ever.

5 And he boweth down them that dwell on high; he bringeth low the high city; yea, he thrusteth it to the earth, and it lieth in the dust,

6 That it may be trodden under foot, even with the feet of the poor, with the heels of the lowly.

7 But the way of the righteous is evil: the path of the righteous thou makest right.

8 For we wait for thee, O LORD, in the way of thy right hand: the desire of the heart is for thy name and for thy memorial.

9 With my heart I desire thee at night; And with my spirit within me I awake unto thee early. For where thy justice is done in the land, The inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness.

10 But though grace be offered unto the wicked, yet learn they not righteousness, but do evil in the right land: for they see not the glory of the LORD.

11 O LORD, thine hand is lifted up; they see it not: but when they shall see it, they shall be confounded in zeal against the heathen: thou wilt also burn them with fire, that thou mayest consume thine enemies.

12 But unto us, O LORD, thou wilt make peace: for all that we do thou hast given us.

13 O LORD our God, there are other lords over us besides thee: but we remember thee and thy name only.

14 The dead shall not live, neither shall they rise: for thou hast visited them, and destroyed them, and brought to nought all their remembrance.

15 But thou, O LORD, goest on among the heathen, thou goest on among the heathen, thou showest thy glory, and comest afar off unto the end of the world.

16 O LORD, when tribulation cometh, they seek thee: when thou chastenest them, they cry out with fear.

17 As a woman with child, when she is about to be delivered, is afraid, and crieth out in her pains: so is it with us, O Lord, before thy face.

18 And we are with child, and are afraid that we shall not draw breath; neither can we help the land, neither will the inhabitants of the earth fall.

19 But thy dead shall live, and rise with the body. Awake, and glorify them that lie under the earth: for thy dew is the dew of the green field. But the land of the dead shalt thou overthrow.

20 Go thy way, O my people, into thy chamber, and shut thy door upon thee; hide thyself for a moment from me, until the wrath be past.

21 For, behold, the LORD shall go forth out of his place to visit the wickedness of the inhabitants of the land upon them, and the land shall reveal their blood, and shall not hide them that are slain within.