Isaiah 26
26
A Song of Praise to God
1At that time people will sing this song in Judah:
We have a strong city with strong walls and defenses.
But God gives us our salvation.#26:1 Or “We have a strong city that provides us with salvation. It has strong walls and defenses.”
2Open the gates for the good people to enter.
They are the God’s faithful followers.
3God, you give true peace
to people who depend on you,
to those who trust in you.
4So trust the Lord always,
because in the Lord YAH#26:4 LORD YAH Or “YAH YAHWEH,” a Hebrew name for God. you have a place of safety forever.
5But he will destroy the proud city
and punish those who live there.
He will throw that high city down to the ground.
It will fall into the dust.
6Then poor and humble people will walk on those ruins.
7Honesty is the path good people follow.
They follow the path that is straight and true.
And God, you make that way smooth
and easy to follow.
8But, Lord, we are waiting for your way of justice.
We want to honor you and your name.
9At night my soul longs to be with you,
and the spirit in me wants to be with you at the dawn of every new day.
When your way of justice comes to the world,
people will learn the right way of living.
10Evil people will not learn to do good,
even if you show them only kindness.
They will still do wrong, even if they live in a good world.
They never see the Lord’s greatness.
11Lord, your arm is raised to punish them,
but they don’t see it.
Show them how strong your love#26:11 strong … love The Hebrew word means strong feelings like love, hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy. is for your people.
Then those who are evil will be ashamed.
Yes, your fire will destroy your enemies.
12Lord, you have succeeded in doing everything we tried to do,
so give us peace.
God Will Give New Life to His People
13Lord, you are our God,
but in the past, we followed other lords.
We belonged to other masters,#26:13 we followed … masters This is a wordplay. It could also be translated, “Husbands other than you married us.” One word sounds like “Baal,” the other like a title for God.
but now we want people to remember only one name—yours.
14Those dead lords will not come to life.
Those ghosts will not rise from death.
You decided to destroy them,
and you destroyed everything that makes us think about them.
15Lord, you have helped the nation you love.
You made our nation grow
and brought honor to yourself.#26:15 Or “You gathered together the nation you love, the nation you drove into faraway lands.”
16Lord, people remember you
when they are in trouble.
So because of your punishment,
we called out to you.
17Lord, because of you we were in pain,
like a woman giving birth,
who struggles and cries out when it is time.
18But we struggled in pain for nothing.
We gave birth only to wind.
We did nothing to save the land.
No one was born to live in the world.
19 But the Lord says,
“Your people have died,
but they will live again.
The bodies of my people
will rise from death.
Dead people in the ground,
stand and be happy!
The dew covering you is like
the dew sparkling in the light of a new day.
It shows that a new time is coming,
when the earth will give birth to the dead who are in it.”
Judgment: Reward or Punishment
20My people, go into your rooms
and lock your doors.
Hide in there for a short time
until God’s anger is finished.
21Look! The Lord is coming out from his place#26:21 his place Probably the Temple in Jerusalem.
to judge the people of the world for the bad things they have done.
The earth will reveal the blood that has been spilled on it.
It will no longer hide the proof of those murders.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 26
26
1In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation doth he appoint for walls and bulwarks. 2Open ye the gates, and the righteous nation which keepeth faithfulness shall enter in. 3Thou wilt keep in perfect peace the mind stayed on thee, for he confideth in thee. 4Confide ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jah, Jehovah, is the rock of ages.
5For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, he layeth it low to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust. 6The foot shall tread it down, — the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor. 7The way of the just is uprightness: thou, the Upright, dost make the path of the just even. 8Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to thy memorial. 9With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10If favour be shewn to the wicked, he doth not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he dealeth unjustly, and beholdeth not the majesty of Jehovah. 11Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, but they do not see: yet they shall see thy jealousy for the people, and be ashamed; yea, the fire which is for thine adversaries shall devour them.
12Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us. 13Jehovah our God#GodHebrew: Elohim other lords than thee have had dominion over us; by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 14They are dead, they shall not live; deceased, they shall not rise: for thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all memory of them to perish. 15Thou hast increased the nation, Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified. Thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. 16Jehovah, in trouble they sought thee; they poured out their whispered prayer when thy chastening was upon them. 17As a woman with child, that draweth near her delivery, is in travail, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been before thee, Jehovah. 18We have been with child, we have been in travail, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought the deliverance of the land, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing in triumph, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is the dew of the morning, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.
20Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past. 21For behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.