Isaiah 26
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
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 victory
like walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates,
so that the righteous nation that keeps faith
may enter in.
3 Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—
in peace because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord for ever,
for in the Lord God[a]
you have an everlasting rock.
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.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the righteous is level;
O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgements,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night,
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgements are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 If favour is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness they deal perversely
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.
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.
12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.
13 O Lord our God,
other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but we acknowledge your name alone.
14 The dead do not live;
shades do not rise—
because you have punished and destroyed them,
and wiped out all memory of them.
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.
16 O Lord, in distress they sought you,
they poured out a prayer[b]
when your chastening was on them.
17 Like a woman with child,
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near her time,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
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.
19 Your dead shall live, their corpses[c] shall rise.
O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a radiant dew,
and the earth will give birth to those long dead.[d]
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until the wrath is past.
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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:4 Heb in Yah, the Lord
- Isaiah 26:16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 26:19 Cn Compare Syr Tg: Heb my corpse
- Isaiah 26:19 Heb to the shades
Isaiah 26
Common English Bible
Trusting in God forever
26 On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
Ours is a strong city!
God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates and let a righteous nation enter,
a nation that keeps faith.
3 Those with sound thoughts you will keep in peace,
in peace because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord is a rock for all ages.
5 He has thrown down those living on high,
and he will level the lofty town,
leveling it down to the earth;
he will bring it down to dust.
6 The feet trample it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the righteous is level;
you clear a path for the righteous.
8 In the path of your justice, Lord, we wait for you;
with all our being, we long for your name and your acclaim.
9 At night I long for you with my whole being;
my spirit within me watches for you.
When your judgments are at work in the earth,
those living in the world learn righteousness.
10 When the wicked are favored, they don’t learn righteousness;
even among those who do right they do wrong,
and they fail to see the Lord’s majesty.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted up,
but they don’t see.
Let them see and shrink back because of your zeal for your people;
your burning anger that consumes your enemies.
12 Lord, grant us peace,
because all that we have done has been your doing.
13 Lord our God, other masters besides you have ruled us,
but we will profess your name alone.
14 The dead don’t live; ghosts don’t rise.
Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them,
and abolished all memory of them.
15 You’ve enlarged the nation, Lord.
You’ve enlarged the nation; you are glorified.
You’ve expanded all the land’s boundaries.
16 Lord, in distress they sought you out;
they poured out prayers to you when you disciplined them.
17 As a pregnant woman close to childbirth is in labor pains,
crying out in her pangs,
so were we because of you, Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have achieved no victories on earth;
the inhabitants of the earth never fall.
19 Your dead will live, their[a] corpses will rise,
and those who dwell in the dust will shout for joy.
Your shadow is a shadow of light,
but you will bring down the ghosts into the underworld.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you.
Take cover, for in a little while the fury will be over.
21 Look! The Lord is going out from his place
to bring the iniquity of the ruler of the earth down upon him.
The earth will uncover its blood
and will conceal its slain no longer.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:19 Or my
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible