Isaiah 26

1 In that day, this canticle will be sung in the land of Judah. Within it will be set the city of our strength: Zion, a savior, a wall with a bulwark.

In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city. He appoints salvation for walls and ramparts.

2 Open the gates, and let the just people who guard the truth enter.

Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith.

3 The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.

You will keep him in peace, in peace whose thoughts are fixed on you, because he trusts in you.

4 You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.

Trust in the LORD forever; for in YAH, the LORD, is an everlasting Rock.

5 For he will bend down those living in the heights. He will bring low the lofty city. He will lower it, even to the ground. He will tear it down, even to the dust.

For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low to the ground. He casts it to the dust.

6 The foot will tread it down: the feet of the poor, the steps of the indigent.

The feet of the poor tramples it down, the footsteps of the needy."

7 The path of the just is upright; the difficult path of the just is right to walk in.

The way of the righteous is level. O Just One, you make the path of the righteous smooth.

8 And in the path of your judgments, O Lord, we have endured for you. Your name and your remembrance are the desire of the soul.

Yes, in the path of your judgments, O LORD, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.

9 My soul has desired you in the night. But I will also watch for you with my spirit, in my inmost heart, from the morning. When you accomplish your judgments upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn justice.

With my soul have I desired you in the night. Yes, my spirit within me will seek you early, for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10 Let us take pity on the impious one, but he will not learn justice. In the land of the holy ones, he has done iniquity, and so he will not see the glory of the Lord.

Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see the LORD's majesty.

11 Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see it. May the envious people see and be confounded. And may fire devour your enemies.

LORD, your hand is lifted up, yet they do not see; they see the zeal of the people, and are ashamed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.

12 Lord, you will give us peace. For all our works have been wrought for us by you.

LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also worked all our works for us.

13 O Lord our God, other lords have possessed us apart from you, but in you alone let us remember your name.

LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

14 Let not the dead live; let not the giants rise up again. For this reason, you have visited and destroyed them, and you have perished all remembrance of them.

The dead shall not live, and the departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

15 You have been lenient to the people, O Lord, lenient to the people. But have you been glorified? You have removed all the limits of the earth.

You have increased the nation, O LORD. You have increased the nation. You are glorified. You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they have sought you in anguish. Your doctrine was with them, amid the tribulation of murmuring.

LORD, in trouble they sought you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

17 Like a woman who has conceived and is approaching the time for delivery, who, in anguish, cries out in her pains, so have we become before your face, O Lord.

Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, LORD.

18 We have conceived, and it is as if we were in labor, but we have given birth to wind. We have not brought forth salvation on the earth. For this reason, the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.

We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 Your dead shall live. My slain will rise again. Be awakened, and give praise, you who live in the dust! For your dew is the dew of the light, and you shall be dragged down to the land of the giants, to ruination.

Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall rise. Awake and shout for joy, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of the dawn, and the earth shall bring forth the departed spirits.

20 Go, my people! Enter your chambers. Close your doors behind you. Conceal yourselves for a very brief time, until the indignation has passed over you.

Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.

21 For behold, the Lord will go forth from his place, so that he may visit the iniquity of each inhabitant of the earth against him. And the earth will reveal its blood, and it will no longer cover its slain.

For, look, the LORD comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.