The Song of Judah

26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city.
Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.(A)
Open the gates
so a righteous nation can come in—
one that remains faithful.
You will keep the mind that is dependent on you
in perfect peace,(B)
for it is trusting in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!(C)
For he has humbled those who live in lofty places—
an inaccessible city.(D)
He brings it down; he brings it down to the ground;
he throws it to the dust.
Feet trample it,
the feet of the humble,
the steps of the poor.

God’s People Vindicated

The path of the righteous is level;(E)
you clear a straight path for the righteous.
Yes, Lord, we wait for you
in the path of your judgments.
Our desire is for your name and renown.(F)
I long for you in the night;(G)
yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks you,
for when your judgments are in the land,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 But if the wicked man is shown favor,
he does not learn righteousness.
In a righteous land he acts unjustly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted up to take action,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people
and be put to shame.
Let fire consume your adversaries.
12 Lord, you will establish peace for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.
13 Lord our God, lords other than you have owned[a] us,
but we remember your name alone.(H)

14 The dead do not live;
departed spirits do not rise up.
Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them;
you have wiped out all memory of them.(I)
15 You have added to the nation, Lord.(J)
You have added to the nation; you are honored.
You have expanded all the borders of the land.(K)
16 Lord, they went to you in their distress;(L)
they poured out whispered prayers
because your discipline fell on them.[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,(M)
so we were before you, Lord.
18 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.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies[c] will rise.(N)
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!
For you will be covered with the morning dew,[d]
and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and close your doors behind you.
Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.(O)
21 For look, the Lord is coming from his place(P)
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.(Q)
The earth will reveal the blood shed on it
and will no longer conceal her slain.

Footnotes

  1. 26:13 Or married
  2. 26:16 Hb obscure
  3. 26:19 Lit live; my body they
  4. 26:19 Lit For your dew is a dew of lights

26 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:

For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

11 Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

12 Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

13 O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

16 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 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.

18 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.

19 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.

20 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.

21 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.