Isaiah 26

1On that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: A strong city have we; his aid will he grant [us] as walls and defence. 2Open ye the gates, that there may enter in the righteous nation which guardeth the truth. 3The confiding mind wilt thou keep in perfect peace; because he trusteth in thee. 4Trust ye in the Lord unto eternity; for in Yah the Lord is everlasting protection. 5For he bendeth down the dwellers of the height; the lofty fortress—he layeth it low; he layeth it low, along the ground; he casteth it down to the dust. 6The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. 7The path of the just is straight: thou, most upright, dost ever level the road of the just. 8Yea, on the path of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; for thy name, and for the remembrance of thee, was the longing of our soul. 9In my soul have I longed for thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek for thee; for when thy judgments are [sent] on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10If favor be shown to the wicked, he will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not regard the majesty of the Lord. 11Lord, thy hand was raised high, but they would not see: oh that they might see, and be ashamed, [thy] zeal for the people; yea, the fire which shall devour them—thy enemies. 12Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for also all our works hast thou accomplished for us. 13O Lord our God, lords have had dominion over us beside thee; [but] of thee only would we make mention,—of thy name. 14[They are] dead, they will not live [again]; [they are] departed, they will not rise [again]; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made to perish every memorial of them. 15Thou hast done more for the nation, O Lord, thou hast done more for the nation; thou hast glorified thyself: thou hast enlarged all the ends of the earth. 16Lord, in trouble have they sought thee, they poured out earnest prayers when thy chastening was upon them. 17Like as a pregnant woman, that is near giving birth, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs: so have we been in thy presence, O Lord. 18We have been pregnant and in pain, [but it was] as though we brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the land; and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 19Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing ye, that dwell in the dust; for a dew on herbs is thy dew, and the earth shall cast out the departed. 20Go, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee: hide thyself but for a little moment, until the indignation be passed away. 21For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth on them: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more be a cover over her slain.