Isaiah 26

¹ That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; to guard us he has set wall and rampart about us.

² Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in, she, the faithful one

³ whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the peace, because she trusts in you.

⁴ Trust in Yahweh for ever, for Yahweh is the everlasting Rock;

⁵ he has brought low those who lived high up in the steep citadel; he brings it down, brings it down to the ground, flings it down in the dust:

⁶ the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of the poor trample on it.

⁷ The path of the upright man is straight, you smooth the way of the upright.

⁸ Following the path of your judgements, we hoped in you, Yahweh, your name, your memory are all my soul desires.

⁹ At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you; when your judgements appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.

¹⁰ If favour is shown to the wicked, he does not learn the meaning of integrity. He does evil in the land of uprightness, he fails to see the majesty of Yahweh.

¹¹ Yahweh, your hand is raised, but they do not see it. Let them see your jealous love for this people and be ashamed, let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them.

¹² Yahweh, you are giving us peace, since you treat us as our deeds deserve.

¹³ Yahweh our God, other lords than you have ruled us, but we acknowledge no one other than you, no other name than yours.

¹⁴ The dead will not come to life, their ghosts will not rise, for you have punished them, annihilated them, and wiped out their memory.

¹⁵ Enlarge the nation, Yahweh, enlarge it, to the nation grant glory, extend all the frontiers of the country.

¹⁶ Distressed, we search for you, Yahweh; the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.

¹⁷ As a woman with child near her time writhes and cries out in her pangs, so are we, Yahweh, in your presence:

¹⁸ we have conceived, we writhe as if we were giving birth; we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth, no more inhabitants of the world are born.

¹⁹ Your dead will come to life, their corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.

²⁰ Go into your rooms, my people, shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

²¹ For, see, Yahweh will soon come out of his dwelling, to punish all the inhabitants of earth for their crimes. The earth will reveal its blood and no longer hide its slain.