Isaiah 26
English Standard Version
You Keep Him in Perfect Peace
26 In that day (A)this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
he sets up (B)salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
2 (C)Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 (D)You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
5 (E)For he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of (F)the poor,
the steps of (G)the needy.”
7 The path of the righteous is level;
(H)you make level the way of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
(I)your name and (J)remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
(K)For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 (L)If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, (M)your hand is lifted up,
but (N)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
Let (O)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, you will ordain (P)peace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
(Q)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
(R)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
and wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 (S)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
(T)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, (U)in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
17 (V)Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
18 (W)we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 (X)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For (Y)your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves (Z)for a little while
until the fury has passed by.
21 (AA)For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
to punish the inhabitants of (AB)the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
and will no more cover its slain.
Isaiah 26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judah’s Song of Victory
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
he sets up walls and bulwarks as a safeguard.(A)
2 Open the gates,
so that the righteous nation that maintains faithfulness
may enter in.(B)
3 Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace,
in peace because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord God[a]
you have an everlasting rock.(C)
5 For he has brought low
the inhabitants of the height;
the lofty city he lays low.
He lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.(D)
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.(E)
7 The way of the righteous is level;
straight is the path of the righteous that you clear.(F)
8 In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we have placed hope;
your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.(G)
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.(H)
10 If favor is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
they corrupt what is upright on the earth
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.(I)
11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be ashamed.
Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.(J)
12 O Lord, may you ordain peace for us,
for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.(K)
13 O Lord our God,
other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but we acknowledge your name alone.(L)
14 The dead do not live;
shades do not rise
because you have punished and destroyed them
and wiped out all memory of them.(M)
15 But you have increased the nation, O Lord;
you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
you have enlarged all the borders of the land.(N)
16 O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a prayer[b]
when your chastening was on them.(O)
17 Like a woman with child
about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we because of you, O Lord;(P)
18 we were with child; we writhed,
but we gave birth only to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
and no one is born to inhabit the world.(Q)
19 Your dead shall live; their corpses[c] shall rise.
Those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy![d]
For your dew is a radiant dew,
and the earth will give birth to those long dead.[e](R)
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until the wrath is past.(S)
21 For the Lord comes out from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
the earth will disclose the blood shed on it
and will no longer cover its slain.(T)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.