Isaiah 26
26
Judah’s Praise and Prayer for Deliverance.#This text is a mixture of praise for the salvation that will take place, a confession of Judah’s inability to achieve deliverance on its own, and earnest prayer that God may quickly bring about the longed-for salvation. 1On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah:
“A strong city#Strong city: Jerusalem, the antithesis of the “city of chaos” (24:10); see note on 24:1–27:13. have we;
he sets up victory as our walls and ramparts.#Is 60:18.
2Open up the gates
that a righteous nation may enter,
one that keeps faith.#Ps 118:19–20.
3With firm purpose you maintain peace;
in peace, because of our trust in you.”#Is 32:17–18; Ps 112:7.
4Trust in the Lord forever!
For the Lord is an eternal Rock.#Is 17:10; 30:29; Ps 62:8.
5He humbles those who dwell on high,
the lofty city he brings down,
Brings it down to the ground,
levels it to the dust.#Is 25:11–12; 32:19.
6The feet of the needy trample on it—
the feet of the poor.
7The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.#Ps 23:3–4; Prv 11:3, 5.
8The course of your judgments, Lord, we await;
your name and your memory are the desire of our souls.
9My soul yearns for you at night,
yes, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn;
When your judgment comes upon the earth,
the world’s inhabitants learn justice.#Ps 63:2.
10The wicked, when spared, do not learn justice;
in an upright land they act perversely,
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.#Is 5:12; Eccl 8:11.
11Lord, your hand is raised high,
but they do not perceive it;
Let them be put to shame when they see your zeal for your people:
let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them.#Is 9:6; 30:27; 37:32.
12Lord, you will decree peace for us,
for you have accomplished all we have done.#Jer 29:11; Phil 2:13.
13Lord, our God, lords other than you have ruled us;
only because of you can we call upon your name.
14Dead they are, they cannot live,
shades that cannot rise;
Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them,
and wiped out all memory of them.
15You have increased the nation, Lord,
you have increased the nation, have added to your glory,
you have extended far all the boundaries of the land.#Is 54:2–3.
16Lord, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your discipline.#Hos 5:15.
17As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pain,
so were we before you, Lord.#Mi 4:10.
18We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth only to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
no inhabitants for the world were born.#Is 37:3.
19#This verse refers not to resurrection of the dead, but to the restoration of the people; cf. Ez 37. The population of Judah was radically reduced by the slaughter and deportations that the historical disasters of the late eighth and seventh centuries B.C. brought upon the country. In this context, a major concern for the future was for an increase in the population, a rebirth of the nation’s life. But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise!
Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and you cause the land of shades to give birth.#Ez 37:5–14; Dn 12:2; Hos 6:2.
The Lord’s Response#The time of wrath for Judah would soon be over, and the just punishment of its enemies would begin (cf. Hb 2:1–3).
20Go, my people, enter your chambers,
and close the doors behind you;
Hide yourselves for a brief moment,
until the wrath is past.#Is 10:25.
21See, the Lord goes forth from his place,
to punish the wickedness of the earth’s inhabitants;
The earth will reveal the blood shed upon it,
and no longer conceal the slain.#Gn 4:10; Jb 16:18; Ps 106:38; Mi 1:3.
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Isaiah 26: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 26
26
XXVI
1In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city,
Salvation will He appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2Open ye the gates, that a righteous nation
Which keepeth the truth may enter in.
3A well-established mind,
Wilt thou preserve in perfect peace;
For in thee it trusteth.
4Trust ye in Jehovah for ever;
For Jehovah is the everlasting God, a rock of ages.
5For he hath humbled those that dwell on high;
The lofty city, he hath brought her down:
He hath brought her down even to the ground;
He hath levelled her with the dust.
6The foot shall trample upon her;
The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the needy.
7The way of the righteous is perfectly straight;
Thou, most upright, levellest the path of the righteous.
8Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, we have waited for thee;
To thy name, and the remembrance of thee, is the desire of our soul.
9With my soul have I desired thee in the night;
Yea, with my inmost spirit I have sought thee early:
For when thy judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10Though mercy be shewn to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness:
In the land of rectitude he will deal perversely,
And will not regard the majesty of Jehovah.
11Thy hand, O Jehovah, is lifted up, yet will they not see:
But they shall see thy zeal for the people, and shall be ashamed;
Yea, fire shall burn up thine adversaries.
12Thou, O Jehovah, wilt ordain peace for us.
For thou hast wrought even all our works for us.
13O Jehovah, our God!
Other lords, beside thee, have had dominion over us:
But through thee only will we henceforth make mention of thy name.
14They are dead, they shall not live;
They are deceased, they shall not rise:
Because thou hast visited, and destroyed them;
And hast abolished all the memorial of them.
15Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah;
Thou hast added to the nation; thou art glorified:
Thou hast extended far all the borders of the land.
16O Jehovah, in affliction have they looked up to thee:
They poured out humble supplication, when thy chastening was upon them.
17Like as a woman with child, when her delivery approacheth,
Is in pain, and crieth out in her travail;
So have we been in thy sight, O Jehovah.
18We have conceived, we have travailed,
When we gave birth, it was wind:
Therefore the earth hath not gained any relief,
Neither an increase made to the inhabitants of the world.
19Thy dead shall revive, and our dead bodies shall rise again:
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust!
For the dew of plants is thy dew;
And the earth shall bring forth the dead.
20Come, my people! retire into thy secret apartments;
And shut thy doors after thee:
Hide thyself for a little moment,
Until the indignation be overpast.
21For behold, Jehovah is going forth from his place,
To punish for his iniquity the inhabitant of the earth;
And the earth shall disclose her blood,
And shall no longer cover her slain.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.