Isaiah 26:1-21
26 In that day shall be sung this song in the land of Judah,—A strong city have we! Salvation will he set for walls and rampart.
2 Open ye the gates,—That there may enter in—a righteous nation preserving fidelity.
3 A purpose sustained thou wilt guard [saying] Prosper! Prosper! Because in thee hath he been led to trust.
4 Trust ye in Yahweh unto futurity,—For in Yah Yahweh is a rock of ages.
5 For he hath brought down the inhabitants of the height, the city exalted,—He layeth it low. Layeth it low even to the ground, Levelleth it even to the dust:
6 The foot trampleth it,—The feet of the lowly, The steps of the weak.
7 The path of a righteous man is even,—O Upright One! the track of a righteous man thou makest level.
8 Surely in the path of thy regulations O Yahweh we waited for thee,—Unto thy Name and unto thy Memorial was there a longing of soul:
9 With my soul longed I for thee in the night, Yea with my spirit within me I kept on searching for thee,—For when thy regulations [extend] to the earth The inhabitants of the world will have learned righteousness.
10 Let favour be shewed to the lawless he hath not learned righteousness, In a land of honest dealings he acteth perversely,—And seeth not the splendour of Yahweh.
11 O Yahweh though thy hand be lifted up yet do they not see, Would they might see—and turn pale at a people’s zeal,—Surely the fire of thine enemies must consume them!
12 O Yahweh, thou wilt ensure prosperity for us,—For even all our works hast thou wrought for us.
13 O Yahweh, our God! Lords other than thee have owned us,—By thyself alone will we call upon thy Name.
14 The dead come not to life again, The shades do not arise,—Therefore thou hast visited and destroyed them, And caused to perish every memorial of them.
15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Yahweh, Thou hast increased the nation, thou hast gotten thyself glory,—Thou hast extended far all the ends of the land.
16 O Yahweh! in distress they sought thee,—They poured out a whispered prayer, when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child—Draweth near to giving birth Is in pain, Crieth out in her pangs So were we before thee, O Yahweh;—
18 We were with child—We were in pain, As it were we brought forth wind,—Salvation we could not accomplish for the earth, Neither were born the inhabitants of the world.
19 Thy dead shall come to life again, My dead body they shall arise,—Awake and shout for joy, ye that dwell in the dust, For a dew of light is thy dew, And earth to the shades shall give birth.
20 Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, And shut thy doors behind thee,—Hide thee as it were a little moment, Till the indignation pass over.
21 For lo! Yahweh is coming forth out of his place, To visit the iniquity of earth’s inhabitant upon him,—Therefore shall the earth unveil her shed-blood, And throw a covering no longer over her slain.