Isaiah

The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 26, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 26 New English Translation

Judah Will Celebrate

   1 At that time this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city! The LORD's deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure.
   2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter - one that remains trustworthy.
   3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.
   4 Trust in the LORD from this time forward, even in Yah, the LORD, an enduring protector!
   5 Indeed, the LORD knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, he throws it down to the dust.
   6 It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor."

God's People Anticipate Vindication

   7 The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you make is straight.
   8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, O LORD, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow.
   9 I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.
   10 If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; they do not see the LORD's majesty revealed.
   11 O LORD, you are ready to act, but they don't even notice. They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, yes, fire will consume your enemies.
   12 O LORD, you make us secure, for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us.
   13 O LORD, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone.
   14 The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. That is because you came in judgment and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them.
   15 You have made the nation larger, O LORD, you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor, you have extended all the borders of the land.
   16 O LORD, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.
   17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O LORD.
   18 We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; people to populate the world are not born.
   19 Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.
   20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over!
   21 For look, the LORD is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain.

King James Version

   1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
   2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
   3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
   4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
   5 ¶ For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
   6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
   7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
   8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
   9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
   10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
   11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
   12 ¶ LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
   13 O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
   14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
   15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
   16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
   17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
   18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
   19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
   20 ¶ Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
   21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.