Isaiah 26:1-13

English Standard Version

“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.