Isaiah 26

1 In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein.

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

2 Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in.

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

3 The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee.

The mind that is stayed on you, you will keep him in perfect peace, for he trusts in you.

4 You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever.

Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting rock.

5 For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust.

For he will bring down those who live proudly; the fortified city he will lay low, he will lay low to the ground; he will level it to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

It will be trampled down by the feet of the poor and the treading of the needy.

7 The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in.

The path of the righteous is level, Righteous One; the path of the righteous you make straight.

8 And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul.

Yes, in the path of your judgments, Yahweh, we wait for you; your name and your reputation are our desire.

9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice.

I have longed for you in the night; yes, my spirit within me seeks you earnestly. For when your judgments come on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn about righteousness.

10 Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.

Let favor be shown to the wicked one, but he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he acts wickedly and does not see the majesty of Yahweh.

11 Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies.

Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, but they do not notice. But they will see your zeal for the people and be put to shame, because fire of your adversaries will devour them.

12 Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our works for us.

Yahweh, you will bring about peace for us; for indeed, you have also accomplished all our works for us.

13 O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name.

Yahweh our God, other masters besides you have ruled over us; but we praise your name alone.

14 Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and best destroyed all their memory.

They are dead, they will not live; they are deceased, they will not arise. Indeed, you came in judgment and destroyed them, and made every memory of them to perish.

15 Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off.

You have increased the nation, Yahweh, you have increased the nation; you are honored; you have extended all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they have sought after thee in distress, in the tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them.

Yahweh, in trouble have they looked to you; they whispered prayers when your discipline was on them.

17 As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs: so are we become in thy presence, O Lord.

As a pregnant woman nears the time for her to give birth, when she is in pain and cries out in her labor pains, so we have been before you, Lord.

18 We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.

We have been pregnant, we have been in labor, but it is as if we have only given birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin.

Your dead will live; their dead bodies will arise. Awake and sing for joy, you who live in the dust; for your dew is the dew of light, and the earth will bring forth its dead.

20 Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away.

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

21 For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.

For, look, Yahweh is about to come out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will uncover her bloodshed, and will no longer conceal her slain.