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16 O Lord, in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a prayer[a]
    when your chastening was on them.(A)
17 Like a woman with child
    about to give birth
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we because of you, O Lord;(B)
18     we were with child; we writhed,
    but we gave birth only to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
    and no one is born to inhabit the world.(C)
19 Your dead shall live; their corpses[b] shall rise.
    Those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy![c]
For your dew is a radiant dew,
    and the earth will give birth to those long dead.[d](D)

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Footnotes

  1. 26.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 26.19 Cn Compare Syr Tg: Heb my corpse
  3. 26.19 Q ms Compare Gk Syr: MT dust, awake and shout for joy!
  4. 26.19 Heb to the shades

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