Isaiah 26:16–27:6

¹⁶O Lord, ^win distress they sought you;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when your discipline was upon them.

^17xLike a pregnant woman

who writhes and cries out in her pangs

when she is near to giving birth,

so were we because of you, O Lord;

^18xwe were pregnant, we writhed,

but we have given birth to wind.

We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

^19yYour dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

For ^zyour dew is a dew of light,

and the earth will give birth to the dead.

²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourselves ^afor a little while

until the fury has passed by.

^21bFor behold, the Lord is coming out from his place

to punish the inhabitants of ^cthe earth for their iniquity,

and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,

and will no more cover its slain.

The Redemption of Israel

27In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong ^dsword will punish ^eLeviathan the fleeing serpent, ^eLeviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay ^fthe dragon that is in the sea.

²In that day,

^g“A pleasant vineyard,^{1 h}sing of it!

³I, the Lord, am its keeper;

every moment I water it.

Lest anyone punish it,

I keep it night and day;

⁴I have no wrath.

ⁱWould that I had thorns and briers to battle!

I would march against them,

I would burn them up together.

⁵Or let them lay hold of my protection,

let them make peace with me,

let them make peace with me.”

^6jIn days to come² Jacob shall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit.