Isaiah 26
Modern English Version
A Song of Victory
26 In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
He appoints walls
and bulwarks for security.
2 Open the gates,
that the righteous nation may enter,
the one who remains faithful.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock.
5 For He brings down those who dwell on high,
the lofty city; He lays it low; He lays it low,
even to the ground;
He brings it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor
and the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
8 In the way of Your judgments, O Lord,
we have waited for You eagerly;
the desire of our souls is Your name,
even Your memory.
9 With my soul I have desired You in the night;
my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
for when Your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though favor is shown to the wicked,
yet he will not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals unjustly
and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
12 Lord, You will ordain peace for us,
for You also have done all our works for us.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides You have had dominion over us,
but through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The dead shall not live;
the departed spirits shall not rise.
Therefore, You have punished and destroyed them
and made all remembrance of them to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, in trouble they have sought You;
they poured out a prayer
when Your chastening was on them.
17 Like a woman with child, who is in pain and cries out in her 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, brought forth wind;
we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
nor were the inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead shall live,
their corpses shall arise.
Awake and sing,
you who dwell in dust,
for your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
and the earth shall give birth to the departed spirits.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide for a little while
until the indignation is over.
21 For the Lord comes out of His place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
the earth also shall disclose her bloodshed
and shall cover her slain no more.
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
- 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.
- Isaiah 26:1 God’s protection and defense shall be sufficient for us.
- Isaiah 26:2 He assureth the godly to return after the captivity to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 26:3 Thou hast decreed so, and thy purpose cannot be changed.
- Isaiah 26:5 There is no power so high that can let God, when he will deliver his.
- Isaiah 26:6 God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.
- Isaiah 26:8 We have constantly aboade in the adversities wherewith thou had afflicted us.
- Isaiah 26:9 Meaning, that by afflictions men shall learn to fear God.
- Isaiah 26:10 The wicked though God show them evident signs of his grace, shall be never the better.
- Isaiah 26:11 Through envy and indignation against thy people.
- Isaiah 26:11 The fire and vengeance, wherewith thou dost destroy thine enemies.
- Isaiah 26:13 The Babylonians, which have not governed according to thy word.
- Isaiah 26:14 Meaning, that the reprobate, even in this life shall have the beginning of everlasting death.
- Isaiah 26:15 To wit, the company of the faithful by the calling of the Gentiles.
- Isaiah 26:16 That is, the faithful by the rods were moved to pray unto thee for deliverance.
- Isaiah 26:17 To wit, in extreme sorrow.
- Isaiah 26:18 Our sorrows had none end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.
- Isaiah 26:18 The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.
- 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.
- 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.
- Isaiah 26:20 He exhorteth the faithful to be patient in their afflictions, and to wait upon God’s work.
- 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.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
