Isaiah 26:16–21

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^26:16O Lord, in distress they looked for you;

they uttered incantations because of your discipline.²⁸

^26:17As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver

and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,

so were we because of you, O Lord.

^26:18We were pregnant, we strained,

we gave birth, as it were, to wind.²⁹

We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;

people to populate the world are not born.³⁰

^26:19³¹ Your dead will come back to life;

your corpses will rise up.

Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground!³²

For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew,³³

and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.³⁴

^26:20Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!

Close your doors behind you!

Hide for a little while,

until his angry judgment is over!³⁵

^26:21For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives,³⁶

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain.³⁷

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Footnotes

28 The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and 823 ) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.
29 On the use of כְּמוֹ (kémo, “like, as”) here, see 455 Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.
30 Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.
31 At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
32 Heb “dust” (so , , , , ).
33 Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
34 It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1–14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12–13).
35 Heb “until anger passes by.”
36 Heb “out of his place” (so , ).
37 This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at .

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

O Lord, in distress they sought you;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when your discipline was upon them.

Like 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;

we 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.

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

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

For your dew is a dew of light,

and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Come, my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourselves for a little while

until the fury has passed by.

For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,

and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,

and will no more cover its slain.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Lord, they came to you in their distress;

when you disciplined them,

they could barely whisper a prayer.

As a pregnant woman about to give birth

writhes and cries out in her pain,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

We were with child, we writhed in labor,

but we gave birth to wind.

We have not brought salvation to the earth,

and the people of the world have not come to life.

But your dead will live, Lord;

their bodies will rise—

let those who dwell in the dust

wake up and shout for joy—

your dew is like the dew of the morning;

the earth will give birth to her dead.

Go, my people, enter your rooms

and shut the doors behind you;

hide yourselves for a little while

until his wrath has passed by.

See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling

to punish the people of the earth for their sins.

The earth will disclose the blood shed on it;

the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Lord, they went to you in their distress;

they poured out whispered prayers

because your discipline fell on them.

As a pregnant woman about to give birth

writhes and cries out in her pains,

so we were before you, Lord.

We 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.

Your dead will live; their bodies will rise.

Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!

For you will be covered with the morning dew,

and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.

Go, my people, enter your rooms

and close your doors behind you.

Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.

For look, the Lord is coming from his place

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.

The earth will reveal the blood shed on it

and will no longer conceal her slain.

NLTNew Living Translation

Lord, in distress we searched for you.

We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline.

Just as a pregnant woman

writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

We, too, writhe in agony,

but nothing comes of our suffering.

We have not given salvation to the earth,

nor brought life into the world.

But those who die in the Lord will live;

their bodies will rise again!

Those who sleep in the earth

will rise up and sing for joy!

For your life-giving light will fall like dew

on your people in the place of the dead!

Go home, my people,

and lock your doors!

Hide yourselves for a little while

until the Lord’s anger has passed.

Look! The Lord is coming from heaven

to punish the people of the earth for their sins.

The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed.

They will be brought out for all to see.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Yahweh, in distress they have visited you;

they poured out an incantation;

your discipline was on them.

Like a pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes;

she cries in her labor pains.

So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.

We became pregnant, we writhed;

we gave birth to wind.

We cannot bring about deliverance on the earth,

and no inhabitants of the world are born.

Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise.

Wake up and sing for joy, dwellers of the dust,

for your dew is celestial dew,

and the earth will give birth to dead spirits.

Go, my people, enter into your chambers

and shut your doors behind you;

hide for a very little while,

until the wrath has passed over.

For look! Yahweh is about to come out from his place

to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth against him,

and the earth will disclose her blood

and will no longer cover her slain.

KJV 1900King James Version

Lord, In trouble have they visited thee,

They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery,

Is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs;

So have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

We have been with child, we have been in pain,

We have as it were brought forth wind;

We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth;

Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Thy dead men shall live,

Together with my dead body shall they arise.

Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust:

For thy dew is as the dew of herbs,

And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers,

And shut thy doors about thee:

Hide thyself as it were for a little moment,

Until the indignation be overpast.

For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place

To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:

The earth also shall disclose her blood,

And shall no more cover her slain.

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