Isaiah 26

A Song of Praise

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.

2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.

3 You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
and casts it down to the dust.

6 Feet trample it down—
the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level;
O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.

8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.

9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.

10 Though grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
and regard not the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, your hand is lifted high,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

13 O Lord, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but your name alone do we honor.

14 They are now dead, they live no more;
those departed spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
you wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have enlarged the nation, O Lord;
you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
you have extended all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;
when you disciplined them,
they could barely whisper a prayer.

17 As a woman with child and about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, O Lord.

18 We were with child, we writhed in pain,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth;
we have not given birth to people of the world.

19 But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.

21 See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer.

ISAIAH 26

A Song of Victory

1 The time is coming when the people of Judah will sing this song:
“Our cityt is protected.
The [Lord] is our fortress,
and he gives us victory.

2 Open the city gates
for a law-abiding nation
that is faithful to God.

3 The [Lord] gives perfect peace
to those whose faith is firm.

4 So always trust the [Lord]
because he is forever
our mighty rock.t

5 God has put down our enemies
in their mountain cityt
and rubbed it in the dirt.

6 Now the poor and abused
trample all over that city.”

The [Lord] Can Be Trusted

7 Our [Lord], you always do right,
and you make the path smooth
for those who obey you.

8 You are the one we trust
to bring about justice;
above all else we want
your name to be honored.

9 Throughout the night,
my heart searches for you,
because your decisions
show everyone on this earth
how to live right.

10 Even when the wicked
are treated with mercy
in this land of justice,
they do wrong and are blind
to your glory, our [Lord].

11  t Your hand is raised and ready
to punish them,
but they don't see it.
Put them to shame!
Show how much you care for us
and throw them into the fire
intended for your enemies.

12 You will give us peace, [Lord],
because everything we have done
was by your power.

13 Others have ruled over us
besides you, our [Lord] God,
but we obey only you.

14 Those enemies are now dead
and can never live again.
You have punished them—
they are destroyed,
completely forgotten.

15 Our nation has grown
because of you, our [Lord].
We have more land than before,
and you are honored.

The [Lord] Gives Life //to the Dead

16 When you punished our people,
they turned and prayed
to you, our [Lord].t

17 Because of what you did to us,
we suffered like a woman
about to give birth.

18 But instead of having a child,
our terrible pain
produced only wind.
We have won no victories,
and we have no descendants
to take over the earth.

19 Your people will rise to life!
Tell them to leave their graves
and celebrate with shouts.
You refresh the earth
like morning dew;
you give life to the dead.

20 Go inside and lock the doors,
my people.
Hide there for a little while,
until the [Lord]
is no longer angry.

The Earth and the Sea //Will Be Punished

21 The [Lord] will come out
to punish everyone on earth
for their sins.
And when he does,
those who did violent crimes
will be known and punished.