Isaiah 26:16–27:6

¹⁶O Lord, the people have come to you in trouble. 

They were humbled by oppression, by your discipline upon them. 

¹⁷O Lord, when we are with you, 

we are like pregnant women ready to give birth. 

They writhe and cry out in their labor pains. 

¹⁸We were pregnant; we writhed with labor pains 

only to give birth to the wind. 

We weren’t able to bring salvation to the land, 

and no new people were born on earth. 

¹⁹Your dead will live. 

Their corpses will rise. 

Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy, 

because your dew is a refreshing dew, 

and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead. 

²⁰My people, go to your rooms, 

and shut the doors behind you. 

Hide for a little while until his fury has ended. 

²¹The Lord is going to come out from his dwelling place 

to punish those who live on earth for their sins. 

The earth will uncover the blood shed on it 

and will no longer cover up its dead bodies. 

27TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s People Will Worship on His Holy Mountain

¹On that day the Lord will use his fierce and powerful sword 

to punish Leviathan,that slippery snake, 

Leviathan, that twisting snake. 

He will kill that monster which lives in the sea. 

²On that day sing about a delightful vineyard. 

³I, the Lord, watch over it. 

I water it continually. 

I watch over it day and night 

so that no one will harm it. 

⁴I am no longer angry. 

If only thorns and briars would confront me! 

I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire. 

⁵Or else let them come to me for protection. 

Let them make peace with me. 

Yes, let them make peace with me. 

⁶In times to come Jacob will take root. 

Israel will blossom, bud, 

and fill the whole world with fruit.