Isaiah 26

Yahweh Will Establish Peace

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

He sets up walls and ramparts for salvation.

²“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,

The one that keeps faithfulness.

³“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace

Because he trusts in You.

⁴“Trust in Yahweh forever,

For in Yah—Yahweh Himself —we have an everlasting Rock.

⁵“For He has laid low those who settle on high, the exalted city;[#26:5 Or unassailable]

He brings it low, He brings it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

⁶“The foot will trample it,

The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor.”

⁷¶The way of the righteous is upright;

O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

⁸Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Yahweh,

We have hoped for You eagerly;

Your name—the memory of You—is the desire of our souls.

⁹At night my soul longs for You,[#26:9 Lit with my soul I long]

Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly;

For when the earth experiences Your judgments,

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰Though the wicked is shown favor,

He does not learn righteousness;

He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,

And does not perceive the majesty of Yahweh.

¹¹¶O Yahweh, Your hand is raised up high , yet they do not behold it.

They behold Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;

Indeed, fire will devour Your adversaries.

¹²Yahweh, You will establish peace for us,

Since You have also performed for us all our works.

¹³O Yahweh our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;

But through You alone we bring Your name to remembrance.

¹⁴The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise;[#26:14 Or shades]

Therefore You have visited and destroyed them,

And You have made all remembrance of them perish.

¹⁵You have increased the nation, O Yahweh;

You have increased the nation, You are glorified;

You have extended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶O Yahweh, they visited You in distress;

They could only whisper a prayer;

Your chastening was upon them.

¹⁷As the woman with child draws near to the time to give birth,[#26:17 Or pregnant woman]

She writhes and cries out in her pangs of labor,

Thus were we before You, O Yahweh.

¹⁸We were with child, we writhed in labor ;[#26:18 Or pregnant]

We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.

We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,

And the inhabitants of the world were not born.

¹⁹Your dead will live;

Their corpses will rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and shout for joy,

For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,

And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

²⁰¶Come, my people, enter into your rooms

And close your doors behind you;

Hide for a little while

Until indignation passes by.

²¹For behold, Yahweh is about to come out from His place

To visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth;

And the earth will reveal her bloodshed

And will no longer cover those of hers who were killed.