Isaiah 26
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Song of Judah
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city.
Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.(A)
2 Open the gates
so a righteous nation can come in—
one that remains faithful.
3 You will keep the mind that is dependent on You
in perfect peace,(B)
for it is trusting in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
because in Yah, the Lord, is an everlasting rock!(C)
5 For He has humbled those who live in lofty places—
an inaccessible city.(D)
He brings it down; He brings it down to the ground;
He throws it to the dust.
6 Feet trample it,
the feet of the humble,
the steps of the poor.
God’s People Vindicated
7 The path of the righteous is level;(E)
You clear a straight path for the righteous.
8 Yes, Yahweh, we wait for You
in the path of Your judgments.
Our desire is for Your name and renown.(F)
9 I long for You in the night;(G)
yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You,
for when Your judgments are in the land,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 But if the wicked man is shown favor,
he does not learn righteousness.
In a righteous land he acts unjustly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up to take action,
but they do not see it.
They will see Your zeal for Your people,
and they will be put to shame.
The fire for Your adversaries will consume them!
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
for You have also done all our work for us.
13 Yahweh our God, lords other than You have ruled over us,
but we remember Your name alone.(H)
14 The dead do not live;
departed spirits do not rise up.
Indeed, You have visited and destroyed them;
You have wiped out all memory of them.(I)
15 You have added to the nation, Lord.(J)
You have added to the nation; You are honored.
You have expanded all the borders of the land.(K)
16 Lord, they went to You in their distress;(L)
they poured out whispered prayers
because Your discipline fell on them.[a]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,(M)
so we were before You, Lord.
18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;
we gave birth to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.
19 Your dead will live; their bodies[b] will rise.(N)
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!
For you will be covered with the morning dew,[c]
and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and close your doors behind you.
Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.(O)
21 For look, the Lord is coming from His place(P)
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.(Q)
The earth will reveal the blood shed on it
and will no longer conceal her slain.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:16 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 26:19 Lit live; my body they
- Isaiah 26:19 Lit For your dew is a dew of lights
Isaiah 26
New Living Translation
A Song of Praise to the Lord
26 In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song:
Our city is strong!
We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation.
2 Open the gates to all who are righteous;
allow the faithful to enter.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
4 Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
5 He humbles the proud
and brings down the arrogant city.
He brings it down to the dust.
6 The poor and oppressed trample it underfoot,
and the needy walk all over it.
7 But for those who are righteous,
the way is not steep and rough.
You are a God who does what is right,
and you smooth out the path ahead of them.
8 Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws;
our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.
9 In the night I search for you;
in the morning[a] I earnestly seek you.
For only when you come to judge the earth
will people learn what is right.
10 Your kindness to the wicked
does not make them do good.
Although others do right, the wicked keep doing wrong
and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty.
11 O Lord, they pay no attention to your upraised fist.
Show them your eagerness to defend your people.
Then they will be ashamed.
Let your fire consume your enemies.
12 Lord, you will grant us peace;
all we have accomplished is really from you.
13 O Lord our God, others have ruled us,
but you alone are the one we worship.
14 Those we served before are dead and gone.
Their departed spirits will never return!
You attacked them and destroyed them,
and they are long forgotten.
15 O Lord, you have made our nation great;
yes, you have made us great.
You have extended our borders,
and we give you the glory!
16 Lord, in distress we searched for you.
We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline.
17 Just as a pregnant woman
writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth,
so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We, too, writhe in agony,
but nothing comes of our suffering.
We have not given salvation to the earth,
nor brought life into the world.
19 But those who die in the Lord will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For your life-giving light will fall like dew
on your people in the place of the dead!
Restoration for Israel
20 Go home, my people,
and lock your doors!
Hide yourselves for a little while
until the Lord’s anger has passed.
21 Look! The Lord is coming from heaven
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed.
They will be brought out for all to see.
Footnotes
- 26:9 Hebrew within me.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
