The Song of Redeemed Judah
26 At that time,[a] people will sing this song[b] in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
God crafts victory,
its walls and ramparts.[c]
2 Open your[d] gates,
so the righteous nation that safeguards its faith may enter.
3 You will keep perfectly peaceful[e]
the one whose mind remains focused on you,
because he remains[f] in you.
4 “Trust in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord God[g] you have an everlasting rock.
5 For he has made drunk[h]
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low[i] to the ground
casting it down to the dust,
6 by the feet of the oppressed who trample it,[j]
by the footsteps of the needy.[k]
7 “The path of the righteous is level;
O Upright One,[l]
you make safe[m] the way of justice.[n]
8 Yes, Lord, in the path of your judgments we wait;[o]
your name and your Law[p] are the[q] soul’s desire.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me searches for you.
For when your judgments come upon the earth,
the world’s inhabitants learn righteousness.
10 If favor is shown to the wicked,
they don’t learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they act perversely
and do not perceive the majesty of the Lord.
11 “Lord, your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
And[r] let them see your zeal for your[s] people
and be put to shame—
yes, let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them!
12 Lord, you will decide[t] peace for us,
for you have indeed accomplished
all our achievements for us.
13 O Lord our God,
other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but through you alone
we acknowledge your name.
14 The dead won’t live,
and[u] the departed spirits won’t rise—
to that end, you punished and destroyed them,
then locked away[v] all memory of them.
15 “But you have enlarged the nation,[w] Lord;
you have enlarged the nation.[x]
You have gained honor;
you have extended all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, they[y] came to you in distress;
they poured out their secret[z] prayer
when your chastenings were[aa] afflicting[ab] them.
17 Just as a pregnant woman writhes
and cries out during her labor
when she is about to give birth,
so were we because of you, Lord.
18 We were pregnant, writhing in pain,
but we gave birth only to wind.
We have not won your[ac] victory on earth,
nor have the inhabitants of the world been born.”
The Resurrection of the Dead
19 “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise.
Those who live in the dust will wake up and shout for joy![ad]
For your dew is like the dew of dawn,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your rooms
and shut your doors[ae] behind you.
Hide yourselves[af] for a little while
until the fury has passed by.
21 For see, the Lord is coming from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sins;
the earth will reveal the blood that has been shed on it,
and will no longer conceal its slain.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:1 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 26:1 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsac MT read time, this song will be sung; LXX reads time, they will sing that song
- Isaiah 26:1 So 4QIsac; 1QIsaa MT read walls and ramparts; LXX reads wall and rampart
- Isaiah 26:2 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read the
- Isaiah 26:3 Lit. peace, peace; so 1QIsaa MT; LXX Syr read peace
- Isaiah 26:3 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab LXX; 4QIsac MT read trusts
- Isaiah 26:4 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsab reads the Lord God; LXX reads the Lord, the Lord
- Isaiah 26:5 So MT 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsab 4QIsac MT read has brought low; LXX reads has humbled and brought down
- Isaiah 26:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads He levels it, he levels it
- Isaiah 26:6 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads The foot tramples it
- Isaiah 26:6 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads oppressed
- Isaiah 26:7 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsac reads they go straight ahead; LXX lacks this line
- Isaiah 26:7 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read smooth or you prepare
- Isaiah 26:7 So 1QIsaa 4QIsac; MT LXX read of the righteous ones
- Isaiah 26:8 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads we wait for you
- Isaiah 26:8 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsac MT read your renown; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 26:8 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsab reads my
- Isaiah 26:11 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; the Heb. lacks And
- Isaiah 26:11 Lit. the; so 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks your
- Isaiah 26:12 So 1QIsaa; MT reads prepare or give; LXX reads Lord, give
- Isaiah 26:14 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsaa corrector MT lack and
- Isaiah 26:14 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read wiped out
- Isaiah 26:15 So 1QIsaa 4QIsab
- Isaiah 26:15 So 1QIsaa; MTms lacks this line
- Isaiah 26:16 So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss LXXmss read we; LXX reads I remembered you
- Isaiah 26:16 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT read out a magical
- Isaiah 26:16 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read your chastening was
- Isaiah 26:16 Lit. upon
- Isaiah 26:18 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks your
- Isaiah 26:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Wake up and shout for joy, you; LXX reads Those in the dust will rejoice, for
- Isaiah 26:20 So 1QIsaa MT; MTqere reads door
- Isaiah 26:20 So 1QIsaa; MT reads yourself