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God Will Give His People Victory

26 A day is coming when the people will sing this song in the land of Judah:

Our city is strong!
God himself defends its walls!
Open the city gates
    and let the faithful nation enter,
    the nation whose people do what is right.
You, Lord, give perfect peace
    to those who keep their purpose firm
    and put their trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever;
    he will always protect us.
He has humbled those who were proud;
    he destroyed the strong city they lived in,
    and sent its walls crashing into the dust.
Those who were oppressed walk over it now
    and trample it under their feet.

Lord, you make the path smooth for good people;
    the road they travel is level.
We follow your will and put our hope in you;
    you are all that we desire.
At night I long for you with all my heart;
    when you judge the earth and its people,
    they will all learn what justice is.
10 Even though you are kind to the wicked,
    they never learn to do what is right.
Even here in a land of righteous people
    they still do wrong;
    they refuse to recognize your greatness.
11 (A)Your enemies do not know that you will punish them.
Lord, put them to shame and let them suffer;
    let them suffer the punishment you have prepared.
Show them how much you love your people.

12 You will give us prosperity, Lord;
    everything that we achieve
    is the result of what you do.[a]
13 Lord our God, we have been ruled by others,
    but you alone are our Lord.
14 Now they are dead and will not live again;
    their ghosts will not rise,
    for you have punished them and destroyed them.
No one remembers them any more.
15 Lord, you have made our nation grow,
    enlarging its territory on every side;
    and this has brought you honor.
16 You punished your people, Lord,
    and in anguish they prayed to you.[b]
17 You, Lord, have made us cry out,
    as a woman in labor cries out in pain.
18 We were in pain and agony,
    but we gave birth to nothing.
We have won no victory for our land;
    we have accomplished nothing.[c]

19 Those of our people who have died will live again!
Their bodies will come back to life.
All those sleeping in their graves
    will wake up and sing for joy.
As the sparkling dew refreshes the earth,
    so the Lord will revive those who have long been dead.

Judgment and Restoration

20 Go into your houses, my people, and shut the door behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until God's anger is over. 21 The Lord is coming from his heavenly dwelling place to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The murders that were secretly committed on the earth will be revealed, and the ground will no longer hide those who have been killed.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:12 everything that … do; or you treat us according to what we do.
  2. Isaiah 26:16 Verse 16 in Hebrew is unclear.
  3. Isaiah 26:18 We have won … nothing; Hebrew unclear.

A Song of Praise

26 In that day(A) this song will be sung(B) in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;(C)
    God makes salvation
    its walls(D) and ramparts.(E)
Open the gates(F)
    that the righteous(G) nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
You will keep in perfect peace(H)
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust(I) in you.
Trust(J) in the Lord forever,(K)
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock(L) eternal.
He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground(M)
    and casts it down to the dust.(N)
Feet trample(O) it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,(P)
    the footsteps of the poor.(Q)

The path of the righteous is level;(R)
    you, the Upright One,(S) make the way of the righteous smooth.(T)
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a](U)
    we wait(V) for you;
your name(W) and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
My soul yearns for you in the night;(X)
    in the morning my spirit longs(Y) for you.
When your judgments(Z) come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.(AA)
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,(AB)
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil(AC)
    and do not regard(AD) the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,(AE)
    but they do not see(AF) it.
Let them see your zeal(AG) for your people and be put to shame;(AH)
    let the fire(AI) reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace(AJ) for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done(AK) for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords(AL) besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name(AM) alone do we honor.(AN)
14 They are now dead,(AO) they live no more;
    their spirits(AP) do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;(AQ)
    you wiped out all memory of them.(AR)
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.(AS)
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders(AT) of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;(AU)
    when you disciplined(AV) them,
    they could barely whisper(AW) a prayer.[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth(AX)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth(AY) to wind.
We have not brought salvation(AZ) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.(BA)

19 But your dead(BB) will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust(BC)
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew(BD) is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.(BE)

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors(BF) behind you;
hide(BG) yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath(BH) has passed by.(BI)
21 See, the Lord is coming(BJ) out of his dwelling(BK)
    to punish(BL) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood(BM) shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:8 Or judgments
  2. Isaiah 26:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.