Isaiah 26:1-18 ▼

1 IN that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: O city whose salvation has prevailed, build the walls and the bulwarks;

2 Open the gates, that the righteous peoples who keep faith and that the truth may enter in.

3 Thou wilt keep us in perfect peace, for in thee we have trusted, O LORD, for ever and ever.

4 For the LORD God is an everlasting strength;

5 He brings down those that dwell on high; the lofty city, he shall lay it low, even to the ground; he brings 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 humble is straight; the path of the righteous is straight and level.

8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is for thy name, and to remembrance of thee.

9 My soul has 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 The wicked has gone far off that he may not learn righteousness; chastisement in the land brings correction; the wicked shall not behold the majesty of the LORD.

11 O LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see; but they shall see and be ashamed for the zeal of the people; yea, let the fire of the oven devour thine enemies.

12 O LORD, thou wilt give us peace; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

13 O LORD our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but thy name alone will we mention;

14 For they do not raise the dead, they do not raise the mighty men; therefore thou hast 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 hast removed it afar and scattered it to all the ends of the earth.

16 O LORD, in distress have they sought thee, and in siege they muttered the incantation invoking thy discipline.

17 Like a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, and is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain like those who brought forth wind; save us lest we perish in the earth, lest the inhabitants of the world come to an end.