International Standard Version
Isaiah 26
1 At that time, a people will sing this song b in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God crafts victory, its walls and ramparts. c
2 Open your d gates, so the righteous nation that safeguards its faith may enter.
3 You will keep perfectly peaceful e the one whose mind remains focused on you, because he remains f in you.
4 “Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD g you have an everlasting rock.
5 For he has made drunk h the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low i to the ground casting it down to the dust,
6 by the feet of the oppressed who trample it, j by the footsteps of the needy. k
7 “The path of the righteous is level; O Upright One, l you make safe m the way of justice. n
8 Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait; o your name and your Law p are the q soul’s desire.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me searches for you. For when your judgments come upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn righteousness.
10 If favor is shown to the wicked, they don’t learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they act perversely and do not perceive the majesty of the LORD.
11 “LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. And r let them see your zeal for your s people and be put to shame— yes, let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them!
12 LORD, you will decide t peace for us, for you have indeed accomplished all our achievements for us.
13 O LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but through you alone we acknowledge your name.
14 The dead won’t live, and u the departed spirits won’t rise— to that end, you punished and destroyed them, then locked away v all memory of them.
15 “But you have enlarged the nation, w LORD; you have enlarged the nation. x You have gained honor; you have extended all the borders of the land.
16 LORD, they y came to you in distress; they poured out their secret z prayer when your chastenings were aa afflicting bb them.
17 Just as a pregnant woman writhes and cries out during her labor when she is about to give birth, so were we because of you, LORD.
18 We were pregnant, writhing in pain, but we gave birth only to wind. We have not won your cc victory on earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world been born.”
19 “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Those who live in the dust will wake up and shout for joy! dd For your dew is like the dew of dawn, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors ee behind you. Hide yourselves ff for a little while until the fury has passed by.
21 For see, the LORD is coming from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sins; the earth will reveal the blood that has been shed on it, and will no longer conceal its slain.”