Isaiah 26–27

THE SONG OF JUDAH

26On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city.

Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.^w

²Open the gates

so a righteous nation can come in—

one that remains faithful.

³You will keep the mind that is dependent on you

in perfect peace,^a

for it is trusting in you.

⁴Trust in the Lord forever,

because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!^b

⁵For he has humbled those who live in lofty places—

an inaccessible city.^c

He brings it down; he brings it down to the ground;

he throws it to the dust.

⁶Feet trample it,

the feet of the humble,

the steps of the poor.

GOD’S PEOPLE VINDICATED

⁷The path of the righteous is level;^d

you clear a straight path for the righteous.

⁸Yes, Lord, we wait for you

in the path of your judgments.

Our desire is for your name and renown.^e

⁹I long for you in the night;^f

yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks you,

for when your judgments are in the land,

the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

¹⁰But if the wicked man is shown favor,

he does not learn righteousness.

In a righteous land he acts unjustly

and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹Lord, your hand is lifted up to take action,

but they do not see it.

Let them see your zeal for your people

and be put to shame.

Let fire consume your adversaries.

¹²Lord, you will establish peace for us,

for you have also done all our work for us.

¹³Lord our God, lords other than you have owned^A us,

but we remember your name alone.^g

¹⁴The dead do not live;

departed spirits do not rise up.

Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them;

you have wiped out all memory of them.^h

¹⁵You have added to the nation, Lord.ⁱ

You have added to the nation; you are honored.

You have expanded all the borders of the land.^j

¹⁶Lord, they went to you in their distress;^k

they poured out whispered prayers

because your discipline fell on them.^B

¹⁷As a pregnant woman about to give birth

writhes and cries out in her pains,^l

so we were before you, Lord.

¹⁸We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;

we gave birth to wind.

We have won no victories on earth,

and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies^C will rise.^m

Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!

For you will be covered with the morning dew,^D

and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.

²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms

and close your doors behind you.

Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.ⁿ

²¹For look, the Lord is coming from his place^o

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.^p

The earth will reveal the blood shed on it

and will no longer conceal her slain.

LEVIATHAN SLAIN

27On that day the Lord with his relentless, large, strong sword will bring judgment on Leviathan,^q the fleeing serpent—Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea.^r

THE LORD’S VINEYARD

²On that day

sing about a desirable vineyard:^a

³I am the Lord, who watches over it

to water it regularly.

So that no one disturbs it,

I watch over it night and day.

⁴I am not angry.

If only there were thorns and briers^b for me to battle,

I would trample them

and burn them to the ground.

⁵Or let it take hold of my strength;

let it make peace with me—

make peace with me.

⁶In days to come, Jacob will take root.^c

Israel will blossom and bloom^d

and fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷Did the Lord strike Israel

as he struck the one who struck Israel?^e

Was Israel killed like those killed by the Lord?

⁸You disputed with Israel

by banishing and driving her away.^A

He removed her with his severe storm

on the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore Jacob’s iniquity^f will be atoned for in this way,

and the result of the removal of his sin will be this:^g

when he makes all the altar stones

like crushed bits of chalk,

no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

¹⁰For the fortified city will be desolate,

pastures deserted and abandoned like a wilderness.

Calves will graze there,

and there they will spread out and strip its branches.

¹¹When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.

Women will come and make fires with them,

for they are not a people with understanding.^h

Therefore their Makerⁱ will not have compassion on them,

and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

¹²On that day^j

the Lord will thresh grain from the Euphrates River

as far as the Wadi of Egypt,^k

and you Israelites will be gathered one by one.

¹³On that day

a great trumpet^l will be blown,

and those lost in the land of Assyria will come,

as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt;

and they will worship the Lord

at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.