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.

Read full chapter

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

16 Yahweh, in distress they have visited you;
    they poured out an incantation;[a]
    your discipline was on them.
17 Like a pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes;
    she cries in her labor pains.

So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.

18 We became pregnant, we writhed;
    we gave birth to wind.
We cannot bring about deliverance on the earth,
    and no inhabitants of the world are born.
19 Your dead shall live; their corpses[b] shall rise.
    Wake up and sing for joy, dwellers of the dust,
for your dew is celestial dew,[c]
    and the earth will give birth to dead spirits.[d]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:16 Literally “whispering”
  2. Isaiah 26:19 Literally “my corpse;” some manuscripts propose an emendation to the suffix to change it to third person masculine plural (“their corpses”), which makes better sense
  3. Isaiah 26:19 Literally “dew of light”
  4. Isaiah 26:19 Or “you make the land of Rephaim fall”