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)
Isaiah 26
The Message
Stretch the Borders of Life
26 1-6 At that time, this song
will be sung in the country of Judah:
We have a strong city, Salvation City,
built and fortified with salvation.
Throw wide the gates
so good and true people can enter.
People with their minds set on you,
you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet,
because they keep at it and don’t quit.
Depend on God and keep at it
because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
Those who lived high and mighty
he knocked off their high horse.
He used the city built on the hill
as fill for the marshes.
All the exploited and outcast peoples
build their lives on the reclaimed land.
7-10 The path of right-living people is level.
The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.
We’re in no hurry, God. We’re content to linger
in the path sign-posted with your decisions.
Who you are and what you’ve done
are all we’ll ever want.
Through the night my soul longs for you.
Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.
When your decisions are on public display,
everyone learns how to live right.
If the wicked are shown grace,
they don’t seem to get it.
In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,
blind to the splendor of God.
11-15 You hold your hand up high, God,
but they don’t see it.
Open their eyes to what you do,
to see your zealous love for your people.
Shame them. Light a fire under them.
Get the attention of these enemies of yours.
God, order a peaceful and whole life for us
because everything we’ve done, you’ve done for us.
O God, our God, we’ve had other masters rule us,
but you’re the only Master we’ve ever known.
The dead don’t talk,
ghosts don’t walk,
Because you’ve said, “Enough—that’s all for you,”
and wiped them off the books.
But the living you make larger than life.
The more life you give, the more glory you display,
and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!
16-18 O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble,
when your discipline was so heavy
they could barely whisper a prayer.
Like a woman having a baby,
writhing in distress, screaming her pain
as the baby is being born,
That’s how we were because of you, O God.
We were pregnant full-term.
We writhed in labor but bore no baby.
We gave birth to wind.
Nothing came of our labor.
We produced nothing living.
We couldn’t save the world.
19 But friends, your dead will live,
your corpses will get to their feet.
All you dead and buried,
wake up! Sing!
Your dew is morning dew
catching the first rays of sun,
The earth bursting with life,
giving birth to the dead.
20-21 Come, my people, go home
and shut yourselves in.
Go into seclusion for a while
until the punishing wrath is past,
Because God is sure to come from his place
to punish the wrong of the people on earth.
Earth itself will point out the bloodstains;
it will show where the murdered have been hidden away.
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.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson