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Isaiah 26
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

26 In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein.

2 Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in.

3 The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee.

4 You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever.

5 For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in.

8 And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul.

9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice.

10 Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.

11 Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies.

12 Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our works for us.

13 O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name.

14 Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and hast destroyed all their memory.

15 Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off.

16 Lord, they have sought after thee in distress, in the tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them.

17 As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs: so are we become in thy presence, O Lord.

18 We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin.

20 Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away.

21 For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.

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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.

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Isaiah 26
New King James Version

A Song of Salvation

26 In (A)that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
(B)God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
2 (C)Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which [a]keeps the truth may enter in.
3 You will keep him in perfect (D)peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
(E)For in Yah, the Lord, is [b]everlasting strength.
5 For He brings [c]down those who dwell on high,
(F)The lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.
6 The foot shall [d]tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.”

7 The way of the just is uprightness;
(G)O Most Upright,
You [e]weigh the path of the just.
8 Yes, (H)in the way of Your judgments,
O Lord, we have (I)waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.
9 (J)With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 (K)Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In (L)the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, (M)they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For [f]their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.

12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works [g]in us.
13 O Lord our God, (N)masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to (O)perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have (P)increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the [h]borders of the land.

16 Lord, (Q)in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 As (R)a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her [i]pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, [j]brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have (S)the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 (T)Your dead shall live;
Together with [k]my dead body they shall arise.
(U)Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment

20 Come, my people, (V)enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, (W)for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the Lord (X)comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her [l]blood,
And will no more cover her slain.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:2 Or remains faithful
  2. Isaiah 26:4 Or Rock of Ages
  3. Isaiah 26:5 low
  4. Isaiah 26:6 trample
  5. Isaiah 26:7 Or make level
  6. Isaiah 26:11 Or Your zeal for the people
  7. Isaiah 26:12 Or for us
  8. Isaiah 26:15 Or ends
  9. Isaiah 26:17 sharp pains
  10. Isaiah 26:18 given birth to
  11. Isaiah 26:19 So with MT, Vg.; Syr., Tg. their dead bodies; LXX those in the tombs
  12. Isaiah 26:21 Or bloodshed
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Isaiah 26
1599 Geneva Bible

26 A song of the faithful, wherein is declared, in what consisteth the salvation of the Church, and wherein they ought to trust.

1 In that day shall [a]this song be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city: [b]salvation shall God set for walls and bulwarks.

2 [c]Open ye the gates that the righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, may enter in.

3 By an assured [d]purpose wilt thou preserve perfect peace, because they trusted in thee.

4 Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord God is strength forevermore.

5 For he will bring down them that dwell on high: [e]the high city he will abase: even unto the ground will he cast it down, and bring it unto dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the [f]poor, and the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the just is righteousness: thou wilt make equal the righteous path of the just.

8 Also we, O Lord, have waited for thee in the way of thy [g]judgments: the desire of our soul is to thy Name, and to the remembrance of thee.

9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night, and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning: for seeing thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn [h]righteousness.

10 Let mercy [i]be showed to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he do wickedly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, they will not behold thine high hand: but they shall see it, and be confounded with [j]the zeal of the people, and the fire of thine [k]enemies shall devour them.

12 Lord unto us thou wilt ordain peace: for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

13 O Lord our God, other [l]lords beside thee, have ruled us, but we will remember thee only, and thy Name.

14 The [m]dead shall not live, neither shall the dead arise, because thou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their memory.

15 Thou hast increased [n]the nation, O Lord: thou hast increased the nation: thou art made glorious, thou hast enlarged all the coasts of the earth.

16 Lord, in trouble have they [o]visited thee: they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near to the travail, is in sorrow, and crieth in her pains, so have we been in thy [p]sight, O Lord.

18 We have conceived, we have born in pain, as though we should have brought forth [q]wind: there was no help in the earth, neither did the inhabitants of [r]the world fall.

19 [s]Thy dead men shall live: even with my body shall they rise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy [t]dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people: [u]enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors after thee: hide thyself for a very little while, until the indignation pass over.

21 For lo, the Lord cometh out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them: and the earth shall disclose her [v]blood, and shall no more hide her slain.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:1 This song was made to comfort the faithful when their captivity should come, assuring them also of their deliverance, for the which they should sing this song.
  2. Isaiah 26:1 God’s protection and defense shall be sufficient for us.
  3. Isaiah 26:2 He assureth the godly to return after the captivity to Jerusalem.
  4. Isaiah 26:3 Thou hast decreed so, and thy purpose cannot be changed.
  5. Isaiah 26:5 There is no power so high that can let God, when he will deliver his.
  6. Isaiah 26:6 God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.
  7. Isaiah 26:8 We have constantly aboade in the adversities wherewith thou had afflicted us.
  8. Isaiah 26:9 Meaning, that by afflictions men shall learn to fear God.
  9. Isaiah 26:10 The wicked though God show them evident signs of his grace, shall be never the better.
  10. Isaiah 26:11 Through envy and indignation against thy people.
  11. Isaiah 26:11 The fire and vengeance, wherewith thou dost destroy thine enemies.
  12. Isaiah 26:13 The Babylonians, which have not governed according to thy word.
  13. Isaiah 26:14 Meaning, that the reprobate, even in this life shall have the beginning of everlasting death.
  14. Isaiah 26:15 To wit, the company of the faithful by the calling of the Gentiles.
  15. Isaiah 26:16 That is, the faithful by the rods were moved to pray unto thee for deliverance.
  16. Isaiah 26:17 To wit, in extreme sorrow.
  17. Isaiah 26:18 Our sorrows had none end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.
  18. Isaiah 26:18 The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.
  19. Isaiah 26:19 He comforteth the faithful in their afflictions, showing them that even in death they shall have life: and that they should most certainly rise to glory, the contrary should come to the wicked, as verse 14.
  20. Isaiah 26:19 As herbs dead in winter flourisheth again by the rain in the springtime: so they that lie in the dust, shall rise up to joy, when they feel the dew of God’s grace.
  21. Isaiah 26:20 He exhorteth the faithful to be patient in their afflictions, and to wait upon God’s work.
  22. Isaiah 26:21 The earth shall vomit and cast out the innocent blood, which it hath drunk, that it may cry for vengeance against the wicked.
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Isaiah 26
New International Version

A Song of Praise

26 In that day(A) this song will be sung(B) in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;(C)
    God makes salvation
    its walls(D) and ramparts.(E)
2 Open the gates(F)
    that the righteous(G) nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace(H)
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust(I) in you.
4 Trust(J) in the Lord forever,(K)
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock(L) eternal.
5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground(M)
    and casts it down to the dust.(N)
6 Feet trample(O) it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,(P)
    the footsteps of the poor.(Q)

7 The path of the righteous is level;(R)
    you, the Upright One,(S) make the way of the righteous smooth.(T)
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a](U)
    we wait(V) for you;
your name(W) and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;(X)
    in the morning my spirit longs(Y) for you.
When your judgments(Z) come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.(AA)
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,(AB)
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil(AC)
    and do not regard(AD) the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,(AE)
    but they do not see(AF) it.
Let them see your zeal(AG) for your people and be put to shame;(AH)
    let the fire(AI) reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace(AJ) for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done(AK) for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords(AL) besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name(AM) alone do we honor.(AN)
14 They are now dead,(AO) they live no more;
    their spirits(AP) do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;(AQ)
    you wiped out all memory of them.(AR)
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.(AS)
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders(AT) of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;(AU)
    when you disciplined(AV) them,
    they could barely whisper(AW) a prayer.[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth(AX)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth(AY) to wind.
We have not brought salvation(AZ) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.(BA)

19 But your dead(BB) will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust(BC)
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew(BD) is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.(BE)

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors(BF) behind you;
hide(BG) yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath(BH) has passed by.(BI)
21 See, the Lord is coming(BJ) out of his dwelling(BK)
    to punish(BL) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood(BM) shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:8 Or judgments
  2. Isaiah 26:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
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Isaiah 27
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Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

New King James Version (NKJV)

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