Isaiah 26
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Will Establish Peace
26 (A)In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a (B)strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for (C)salvation.
2 Open the (D)gates, that the (E)righteous nation may enter,
The one that keeps faithfulness.
3 The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect (F)peace
Because he trusts in You.
4 (G)Trust in Yahweh forever,
For in Yah—Yahweh Himself—we have an everlasting (H)Rock.
5 For He has laid low those who settle on high, the [a](I)exalted city;
(J)He brings it low, He brings it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6 (K)The foot will trample it,
The feet of the (L)afflicted, the steps of the poor.”
7 The (M)way of the righteous is upright;
O Upright One, (N)make the path of the righteous level.
8 Indeed, while following the way of (O)Your judgments, O Yahweh,
We have hoped for You eagerly;
(P)Your name—the (Q)memory of You—is the desire of our souls.
9 (R)At night [b]my soul longs for You,
Indeed, [c]my spirit within me (S)seeks You earnestly;
For when the earth [d]experiences Your judgments,
The inhabitants of the world (T)learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not (U)learn righteousness;
He (V)deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of Yahweh.
11 O Yahweh, Your hand is raised up high, yet they (W)do not behold it.
[e]They behold (X)Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, [f](Y)fire will devour Your adversaries.
12 Yahweh, You will establish (Z)peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13 O Yahweh our God, (AA)other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we (AB)bring Your name to remembrance.
14 (AC)The dead will not live; the [g]departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have (AD)visited and destroyed them,
And You have made all remembrance of them perish.
15 (AE)You have increased the nation, O Yahweh;
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have (AF)extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Yahweh, they visited You (AG)in distress;
They [h]could only whisper a prayer;
Your chastening was upon them.
17 (AH)As the [i]woman with child draws near to the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her pangs of labor,
Thus were we before You, O Yahweh.
18 We were [j]with child, we writhed in labor;
We (AI)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
And the (AJ)inhabitants of the world [k]were not born.
19 Your (AK)dead will live;
[l]Their corpses will rise.
You who dwell in the dust, (AL)awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the [m]dawn,
And the earth will [n]give birth to the [o]departed spirits.
20 Come, my people, (AM)enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little [p](AN)while
Until (AO)indignation passes by.
21 For behold, Yahweh is about to (AP)come out from His place
To (AQ)visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth;
And the earth will (AR)reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover those of hers who were killed.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:5 Or unassailable
- Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my soul I long
- Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my spirit...I seek
- Isaiah 26:9 Lit has
- Isaiah 26:11 Or Let them see...and be
- Isaiah 26:11 Or let the fire for Your adversaries devour them
- Isaiah 26:14 Or shades
- Isaiah 26:16 Lit sound forth a whisper
- Isaiah 26:17 Or pregnant woman
- Isaiah 26:18 Or pregnant
- Isaiah 26:18 Lit had never fallen
- Isaiah 26:19 As in some ancient versions; Heb My
- Isaiah 26:19 Lit lights
- Isaiah 26:19 Lit cause to fall
- Isaiah 26:19 Or shades
- Isaiah 26:20 Lit moment
Isaiah 26
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Victory Song
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah.
We have a strong city.
God sets up salvation as its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates,
so that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that guards the truth.[a]
3 You preserve perfect peace for the person
whose resolve is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for Yah the Lord[b] is the eternal Rock.
5 He humbles those who live in a high place,
in a high, secure city.
He brings it down!
He brings it down to the ground!
He throws it down into the dust!
6 It is trampled down
by the feet of the poor,
by the soles of the feet of the helpless.
A Prayer for Blessing
7 The way of the righteous is level and smooth.
You are righteous.[c] You smooth the path for the righteous.
8 Truly, Lord, we have waited for you on the path of your judgments.
Your name and your renown are what our soul desires.
9 My soul longs for you during the night.
My spirit within me looks for you early in the morning,
because when your judgments are known on earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn what righteousness is.
10 Although grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness.
They will continue to act unjustly even in a righteous land.
They will not recognize the Lord’s majesty.
11 Lord, your hand is raised, ready to strike,
but they do not see it.
But they will see your zeal for the people,
and they will be put to shame.
May fire consume your enemies.
12 O Lord, you establish peace for us.
Everything we have done, you have accomplished for us.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but we honor only your name.
14 They are dead. They will not live again.
Their departed spirits will not return.
You have dealt with them 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 are glorified!
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they appealed to you in distress.
They whispered a prayer as you disciplined them.
17 Just as a pregnant woman nearing the time of her delivery
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so we have done before you, O Lord.
18 We have been in pain
as if we were about to give birth to a child,
but we gave birth only to wind.
We have not brought salvation for the earth.
We have not given birth to people who can inhabit the world.[d]
19 But your dead ones will live.
Their[e] dead bodies will rise.
Wake up and sing for joy,
you who dwell in the dust,
because your dew will glisten like morning light,
and the earth will give up the spirits of the dead.[f]
20 Go, my people, go into your rooms,
and shut the doors behind you.
Hide yourselves for a little while,
until his wrath has passed over.
21 Look! The Lord is coming out of his place
to deal with the guilt of those who live on the earth.
Then the earth will reveal the blood shed on it.
It will no longer cover those who have been killed.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:2 Or remains faithful
- Isaiah 26:4 The Hebrew text here includes both the short and long forms of the divine name, Yah and Yahweh. Since we usually translate Yahweh as Lord and there is no difference in meaning between the two terms, Yah is left untranslated.
- Isaiah 26:7 The grammatical construction of the line is unclear. The word translated you are righteous is the same Hebrew root that means level and smooth. It does not appear in the Greek text and perhaps should be omitted.
- Isaiah 26:18 The meaning of this line is uncertain.
- Isaiah 26:19 The Hebrew reads my dead body, but the verb is plural.
- Isaiah 26:19 The last lines of the verse are difficult.
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