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Judah’s Song of Victory

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation which keeps faith
    may enter in.
Thou dost keep him in perfect peace,
    whose mind is stayed on thee,
    because he trusts in thee.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
    for the Lord God
    is an everlasting rock.
For he has brought low
    the inhabitants of the height,
    the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
    casts it to the dust.
The foot tramples it,
    the feet of the poor,
    the steps of the needy.”

The way of the righteous is level;
    thou[a] dost make smooth the path of the righteous.
In the path of thy judgments,
    O Lord, we wait for thee;
thy memorial name
    is the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for thee in the night,
    my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee.
For when thy judgments are in the earth,
    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 If favor is shown to the wicked,
    he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals perversely
    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, thy hand is lifted up,
    but they see it not.
Let them see thy zeal for thy people, and be ashamed.
    Let the fire for thy adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,
    thou hast wrought for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
    other lords besides thee have ruled over us,
    but thy name alone we acknowledge.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
    they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end thou hast visited them with destruction
    and wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 But thou hast increased the nation, O Lord,
    thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified;
    thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, in distress they sought thee,
    they poured out a prayer[b]
    when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like a woman with child,
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs,
    when she is near her time,
so were we because of thee, O Lord;
18     we were with child, we writhed,
    we have as it were brought forth wind.
We have wrought no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 Thy dead shall live, their bodies[c] shall rise.
    O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For thy dew is a dew of light,
    and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
    and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
    until the wrath is past.
21 For behold, the Lord is coming forth out of his place
    to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed upon her,
    and will no more cover her slain.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:7 Cn Compare Gk: Heb thou (that art) upright
  2. Isaiah 26:16 Heb uncertain
  3. Isaiah 26:19 Cn Compare Syr Tg: Heb my body

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.