Isaiah 26

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: "A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.	1 In that day, this canticle will be sung in the land of Judah. Within it will be set the city of our strength: Zion, a savior, a wall with a bulwark.
2 Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith.	2 Open the gates, and let the just people who guard the truth enter.
3 A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you."	3 The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock.	4 You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.
5 He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; He tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust.	5 For he will bend down those living in the heights. He will bring low the lofty city. He will lower it, even to the ground. He will tear it down, even to the dust.
6 It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.	6 The foot will tread it down: the feet of the poor, the steps of the indigent.
7 The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level.	7 The path of the just is upright; the difficult path of the just is right to walk in.
8 Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD, we look to you; Your name and your title are the desire of our souls.	8 And in the path of your judgments, O Lord, we have endured for you. Your name and your remembrance are the desire of the soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; When your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn justice.	9 My soul has desired you in the night. But I will also watch for you with my spirit, in my inmost heart, from the morning. When you accomplish your judgments upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn justice.
10 The wicked man, spared, does not learn justice; in an upright land he acts perversely, and sees not the majesty of the LORD.	10 Let us take pity on the impious one, but he will not learn justice. In the land of the holy ones, he has done iniquity, and so he will not see the glory of the Lord.
11 O LORD, your hand is uplifted, but they behold it not; Let them be shamed when they see your zeal for your people: let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them.	11 Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see it. May the envious people see and be confounded. And may fire devour your enemies.
12 O LORD, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.	12 Lord, you will give us peace. For all our works have been wrought for us by you.
13 O LORD, our God, other lords than you have ruled us; it is from you only that we can call upon your name.	13 O Lord our God, other lords have possessed us apart from you, but in you alone let us remember your name.
14 Dead they are, they have no life, shades that cannot rise; For you have punished and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them.	14 Let not the dead live; let not the giants rise up again. For this reason, you have visited and destroyed them, and you have perished all remembrance of them.
15 You have increased the nation, O LORD, increased the nation to your own glory, and extended far all the borders of the land.	15 You have been lenient to the people, O Lord, lenient to the people. But have you been glorified? You have removed all the limits of the earth.
16 O LORD, oppressed by your punishment, we cried out in anguish under your chastising.	16 Lord, they have sought you in anguish. Your doctrine was with them, amid the tribulation of murmuring.
17 As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so were we in your presence, O LORD.	17 Like a woman who has conceived and is approaching the time for delivery, who, in anguish, cries out in her pains, so have we become before your face, O Lord.
18 We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; Salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.	18 We have conceived, and it is as if we were in labor, but we have given birth to wind. We have not brought forth salvation on the earth. For this reason, the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.
19 But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing, you who lie in the dust. For your dew is a dew of light, and the land of shades gives birth.	19 Your dead shall live. My slain will rise again. Be awakened, and give praise, you who live in the dust! For your dew is the dew of the light, and you shall be dragged down to the land of the giants, to ruination.
20 Go, my people, enter your chambers, and close your doors behind you; Hide yourselves for a brief moment, until the wrath is past.	20 Go, my people! Enter your chambers. Close your doors behind you. Conceal yourselves for a very brief time, until the indignation has passed over you.
21 See, the LORD goes forth from his place, to punish the wickedness of the earth's inhabitants; The earth will reveal the blood upon her, and no longer conceal her slain.	21 For behold, the Lord will go forth from his place, so that he may visit the iniquity of each inhabitant of the earth against him. And the earth will reveal its blood, and it will no longer cover its slain.