The Song of Redeemed Judah

1At that time,a people will sing this songb in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

God crafts victory,

its walls and ramparts.c

2Open yourd gates,

so the righteous nation that safeguards its faith may enter.

3You will keep perfectly peacefule

the one whose mind remains focused on you,

because he remainsf in you.

4“Trust in the LORD forever,

for in the LORD GODg you have an everlasting rock.

5For he has made drunkh

the inhabitants of the height,

the lofty city.

He lays it lowi to the ground

casting it down to the dust,

6by 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 safem the way of justice.n

8Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait;o

your name and your Lawp are theq soul’s desire.

9My 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.

10If 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.

Andr let them see your zeal for yours people

and be put to shame—

yes, let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them!

12LORD, you will decidet peace for us,

for you have indeed accomplished

all our achievements for us.

13O LORD our God,

other lords besides you have ruled over us,

but through you alone

we acknowledge your name.

14The dead won’t live,

andu the departed spirits won’t rise—

to that end, you punished and destroyed them,

then locked awayv 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.

16LORD, theyy came to you in distress;

they poured out their secretz prayer

when your chastenings wereaa afflictingbb them.

17Just 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.

18We were pregnant, writhing in pain,

but we gave birth only to wind.

We have not won yourcc 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!dd

For your dew is like the dew of dawn,

and the earth will give birth to the dead.

20Come, my people, enter your rooms

and shut your doorsee behind you.

Hide yourselvesff for a little while

until the fury has passed by.

21For 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.”