Isaiah 26:16–27:6

¹⁶Lord, they came to you in their distress;^v

when you disciplined^w them,

they could barely whisper^x a prayer.^b

¹⁷As a pregnant woman about to give birth^y

writhes and cries out in her pain,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

¹⁸We were with child, we writhed in labor,

but we gave birth^z to wind.

We have not brought salvation^a to the earth,

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

¹⁹But your dead^c will live, Lord;

their bodies will rise—

let those who dwell in the dust^d

wake up and shout for joy—

your dew^e is like the dew of the morning;

the earth will give birth to her dead.^f

²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms

and shut the doors^g behind you;

hide^h yourselves for a little while

until his wrathⁱ has passed by.^j

²¹See, the Lord is coming^k out of his dwelling^l

to punish^m the people of the earth for their sins.

The earth will disclose the bloodⁿ shed on it;

the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Deliverance of Israel

27In that day,^o

the Lord will punish with his sword^p—

his fierce, great and powerful sword—

Leviathan^q the gliding serpent,^r

Leviathan the coiling serpent;

he will slay the monster^s of the sea.

²In that day^t—

“Sing^u about a fruitful vineyard:^v

³I, the Lord, watch over it;

I water^w it continually.

I guard^x it day and night

so that no one may harm^y it.

⁴I am not angry.

If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!

I would march against them in battle;

I would set them all on fire.^z

⁵Or else let them come to me for refuge;^a

let them make peace^b with me,

yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶In days to come Jacob will take root,^c

Israel will bud and blossom^d

and fill all the world with fruit.^e