16 Lord, they went to you in their distress;(A)
they poured out whispered prayers
because your discipline fell on them.[a]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,(B)
so we were before you, Lord.
18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;
we gave birth to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies[b] will rise.(C)
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!
For you will be covered with the morning dew,[c]
and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.

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Footnotes

  1. 26:16 Hb obscure
  2. 26:19 Lit live; my body they
  3. 26:19 Lit For your dew is a dew of lights

16 Lord, they sought You (A)in distress;
They [a]could only whisper a prayer,
Your discipline was upon them.
17 (B)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 (C)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were (D)inhabitants of the world [b]born.
19 Your (E)dead will live;
[c]Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, (F)awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the [d]dawn,
And the earth will [e]give birth to the [f]departed spirits.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:16 Lit sound forth a whisper
  2. Isaiah 26:18 Lit fallen
  3. Isaiah 26:19 As in some ancient versions; MT My
  4. Isaiah 26:19 Lit lights
  5. Isaiah 26:19 Lit cause to fall
  6. Isaiah 26:19 Or shades