Song of Praise for God’s Favor

1 O Lord, You are amy God;

I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;

For You have bworked wonders,

cPlans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

2 For You have made a city into a aheap,

A bfortified city into a ruin;

A cpalace of strangers is a city no more,

It will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore a strong people will aglorify You;

bCities of ruthless nations will revere You.

4 For You have been a adefense for the helpless,

A defense for the needy in his distress,

A brefuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;

For the breath of the cruthless

Is like a rain storm against a wall.

5 Like heat in drought, You subdue the auproar of aliens;

Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is 1silenced.

6 aThe Lord of hosts will prepare a 1lavish banquet for ball peoples on this mountain;

A banquet of 2aged wine, 3choice pieces with marrow,

And 4refined, aged wine.

7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the 1acovering which is over all peoples,

Even the veil which is 2stretched over all nations.

8 He will aswallow up death for all time,

And the Lord 1God will bwipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the creproach of His people from all the earth;

For the Lord has spoken.

9 And it will be said in that day,

“Behold, athis is our God for whom we have bwaited that cHe might save us.

This is the Lord for whom we have waited;

dLet us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,

And aMoab will be trodden down in his place

As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.

11 And he will aspread out his hands in the middle of it

As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,

But the Lord will blay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.

12 The aunassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,

Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.

Chapter 26

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

1 aIn that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a bstrong city;

He sets up walls and ramparts for 1csecurity.

2 “Open the agates, that the brighteous nation may enter,

The one that 1remains faithful.

3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect apeace,

Because he trusts in You.

4 “aTrust in the Lord forever,

For in 1God the Lord, we have an everlasting bRock.

5 “For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the aunassailable city;

bHe lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

6 “aThe foot will trample it,

The feet of the bafflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

7 The away of the righteous is smooth;

O Upright One, bmake the path of the righteous level.

8 Indeed, while following the way of aYour judgments, O Lord,

We have waited for You eagerly;

bYour name, even Your cmemory, is the desire of our souls.

9 aAt night 1my soul longs for You,

Indeed, 2my spirit within me bseeks You diligently;

For when the earth 3experiences Your judgments

The inhabitants of the world clearn righteousness.

10 Though the wicked is shown favor,

He does not alearn righteousness;

He bdeals unjustly in the land of uprightness,

And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they ado not see it.

1They see bYour zeal for the people and are put to shame;

Indeed, 2cfire will devour Your enemies.

12 Lord, You will establish apeace for us,

Since You have also performed for us all our works.

13 O Lord our God, aother masters besides You have ruled us;

But through You alone we 1bconfess Your name.

14 aThe dead will not live, the 1departed spirits will not rise;

Therefore You have bpunished and destroyed them,

And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.

15 aYou have increased the nation, O Lord,

You have increased the nation, You are glorified;

You have bextended all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, they sought You ain distress;

They 1could only whisper a prayer,

Your chastening was upon them.

17 aAs the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,

She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,

Thus were we before You, O Lord.

18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,

We agave birth, as it seems, only to wind.

We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,

Nor were binhabitants of the world 1born.

19 Your adead will live;

1Their corpses will rise.

You who lie in the dust, bawake and shout for joy,

For your dew is as the dew of the 2dawn,

And the earth will 3give birth to the 4departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, aenter into your rooms

And close your doors behind you;

Hide for a little 1bwhile

Until cindignation 2runs its course.

21 For behold, the Lord is about to acome out from His place

To bpunish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;

And the earth will creveal her bloodshed

And will no longer cover her slain.