Isaiah 26

“We have a strong city;
He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
² 
“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that ^[a]remains faithful and trustworthy.
³ 
“You will keep in ^[b]perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both ^[c]inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
⁴ 
“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
⁵ 
“For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.
⁶ 
“The foot will trample it,
Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”

⁷ 
The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.
⁸ 
Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited expectantly for You;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.
⁹ 
In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth
Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
¹⁰ 
Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,
And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹ 
Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.
Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame;
Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
¹² 
Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.
¹³ 
O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
¹⁴ 
The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].
¹⁵ 
You have increased the nation, O Lord;
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
¹⁶ 
O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They managed only a prayerful whisper
When Your discipline was upon them.
¹⁷ 
As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth,
She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor,
So we were before You, O Lord.
¹⁸ 
We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world ^[d]born.
¹⁹ 
Your dead will live;
^[e]Their dead bodies will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

²⁰ 
Come, my people, enter your chambers
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until the [Lord’s] ^[f]wrath is past.
²¹ 
Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her
And will no longer cover her slain.