Isaiah 26:16–27:6

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.