26 A song of the faithful, wherein is declared, in what consisteth the salvation of the Church, and wherein they ought to trust.
1 In that day shall [a]this song be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city: [b]salvation shall God set for walls and bulwarks.
2 [c]Open ye the gates that the righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, may enter in.
3 By an assured [d]purpose wilt thou preserve perfect peace, because they trusted in thee.
4 Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord God is strength forevermore.
5 For he will bring down them that dwell on high: [e]the high city he will abase: even unto the ground will he cast it down, and bring it unto dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the [f]poor, and the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the just is righteousness: thou wilt make equal the righteous path of the just.
8 Also we, O Lord, have waited for thee in the way of thy [g]judgments: 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, and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning: for seeing thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn [h]righteousness.
10 Let mercy [i]be showed to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he do wickedly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, they will not behold thine high hand: but they shall see it, and be confounded with [j]the zeal of the people, and the fire of thine [k]enemies shall devour them.
12 Lord unto us thou wilt ordain peace: for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.
13 O Lord our God, other [l]lords beside thee, have ruled us, but we will remember thee only, and thy Name.
14 The [m]dead shall not live, neither shall the dead arise, because thou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their memory.
15 Thou hast increased [n]the nation, O Lord: thou hast increased the nation: thou art made glorious, thou hast enlarged all the coasts of the earth.
16 Lord, in trouble have they [o]visited thee: they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near to the travail, is in sorrow, and crieth in her pains, so have we been in thy [p]sight, O Lord.
18 We have conceived, we have born in pain, as though we should have brought forth [q]wind: there was no help in the earth, neither did the inhabitants of [r]the world fall.
19 ¶ [s]Thy dead men shall live: even with my body shall they rise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy [t]dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people: [u]enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors after thee: hide thyself for a very little while, until the indignation pass over.
21 For lo, the Lord cometh out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them: and the earth shall disclose her [v]blood, and shall no more hide her slain.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:1 This song was made to comfort the faithful when their captivity should come, assuring them also of their deliverance, for the which they should sing this song.
- Isaiah 26:1 God’s protection and defense shall be sufficient for us.
- Isaiah 26:2 He assureth the godly to return after the captivity to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 26:3 Thou hast decreed so, and thy purpose cannot be changed.
- Isaiah 26:5 There is no power so high that can let God, when he will deliver his.
- Isaiah 26:6 God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.
- Isaiah 26:8 We have constantly aboade in the adversities wherewith thou had afflicted us.
- Isaiah 26:9 Meaning, that by afflictions men shall learn to fear God.
- Isaiah 26:10 The wicked though God show them evident signs of his grace, shall be never the better.
- Isaiah 26:11 Through envy and indignation against thy people.
- Isaiah 26:11 The fire and vengeance, wherewith thou dost destroy thine enemies.
- Isaiah 26:13 The Babylonians, which have not governed according to thy word.
- Isaiah 26:14 Meaning, that the reprobate, even in this life shall have the beginning of everlasting death.
- Isaiah 26:15 To wit, the company of the faithful by the calling of the Gentiles.
- Isaiah 26:16 That is, the faithful by the rods were moved to pray unto thee for deliverance.
- Isaiah 26:17 To wit, in extreme sorrow.
- Isaiah 26:18 Our sorrows had none end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.
- Isaiah 26:18 The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.
- Isaiah 26:19 He comforteth the faithful in their afflictions, showing them that even in death they shall have life: and that they should most certainly rise to glory, the contrary should come to the wicked, as verse 14.
- Isaiah 26:19 As herbs dead in winter flourisheth again by the rain in the springtime: so they that lie in the dust, shall rise up to joy, when they feel the dew of God’s grace.
- Isaiah 26:20 He exhorteth the faithful to be patient in their afflictions, and to wait upon God’s work.
- Isaiah 26:21 The earth shall vomit and cast out the innocent blood, which it hath drunk, that it may cry for vengeance against the wicked.