14 (A)The dead will not live, the [a]departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have (B)punished and destroyed them,
And You have eliminated all remembrance of them.
15 (C)You have increased the nation, Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have (D)extended all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, they sought You (E)in distress;
They [b]could only whisper a prayer,
Your discipline was upon them.
17 (F)As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains;
This is how we were before You, Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We (G)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were (H)inhabitants of the world [c]born.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:14 Or shades
  2. Isaiah 26:16 Lit sound forth a whisper
  3. Isaiah 26:18 Lit fallen

14 Those we served before are dead and gone.
    Their departed spirits will never return!
You attacked them and destroyed them,
    and they are long forgotten.
15 O Lord, you have made our nation great;
    yes, you have made us great.
You have extended our borders,
    and we give you the glory!

16 Lord, in distress we searched for you.
    We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline.
17 Just as a pregnant woman
    writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We, too, writhe in agony,
    but nothing comes of our suffering.
We have not given salvation to the earth,
    nor brought life into the world.

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