Isaiah — Chapter 26

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1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

2Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.

3You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

4Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

5For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.

6Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.

7The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.

8Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.

9My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

10Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

11O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

12O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

13O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.

14The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

15You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.

16O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

17As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

18We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

1In 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.

2Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

4Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

5For 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.

6The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

8Yea, 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.

9With 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.

10Let 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.

11LORD, 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.

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

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

14They 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.

15Thou 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.

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

17Like 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.

18We 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.

19Thy 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.

20Come, 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.

21For, 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.

1In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks.

2Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth faith may enter in.

3Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]; because he trusteth in thee.

4Trust ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jehovah, [even] Jehovah, is an everlasting rock.

5For he hath brought 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.

6The foot shall tread it down; even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7The way of the just is uprightness: thou that art upright dost direct the path of the just.

8Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; to thy name, even to thy memorial [name], is the desire of our soul.

9With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.

11Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see [thy] zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, fire shall devour thine adversaries.

12Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou hast also wrought all our works for us.

13O Jehovah our God, other lords besides 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 remembrance of them to perish.

15Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified; thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land.

16Jehovah, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening was upon them.

17Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah.

18We 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.

19Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is [as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.

20Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

21For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth 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.

1At that time this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city! The Lord’s deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure.

2Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter— one that remains trustworthy.

3You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.

4Trust in the Lord from this time forward, even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector!

5Indeed, the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, he throws it down to the dust.

6It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor.”

7The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight.

8Yes, as your judgments unfold, O Lord, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow.

9I look for you during the night; my spirit within me seeks you at dawn; for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

10If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.

11O Lord, you are ready to act, but they don’t even notice. They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind; yes, fire will consume your enemies.

12O Lord, you make us secure, for even all we have accomplished you have done for us.

13O Lord, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone.

14The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. That is because you came in judgment and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them.

15You have made the nation larger, O Lord; you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor; you have extended all the borders of the land.

16O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.

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.

18We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; no people are born to populate the world.

19Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.

20Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over.

21For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives 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.

1In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.

2Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith.

3You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.

4Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.

5For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust.

6The foot shall tread it down; Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.”

7The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.

8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.

9With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh’s majesty.

11Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.

12Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.

13Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

14The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

15You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

17Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, Yahweh.

18We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.

20Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.

21For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

Isaiah presents a song to be sung in Judah once God's deliverance arrives, celebrating a strong city whose walls and defenses are salvation itself, open to any righteous, faithful nation that wants to enter (vv. 1-2). He declares that God keeps in perfect peace anyone whose mind stays fixed on him, because trusting in the LORD means trusting an everlasting rock, while he humbles the proud, lofty city and lets the oppressed and needy trample it underfoot (vv. 3-6). The path of the righteous is described as level and just, and Isaiah confesses that his soul longs for God through the night, adding that only when God's judgments reach the earth do people learn righteousness (vv. 7-10). He asks God to establish peace for them since every good thing they have accomplished ultimately comes from his hand, then acknowledges that other lords have ruled over them but only the LORD's name will be remembered (vv. 12-14). The chapter closes with a striking promise of resurrection: God's dead will live and their bodies will rise, and the people are told to hide briefly until God's wrath against the earth has passed (vv. 19-21).

Authorship & Background

Author: Isaiah son of Amoz (see Chapter 1 notes for full details).
Classification: Apocalyptic Hymn — Song of the Redeemed (Isaiah Apocalypse, chs. 24-27)
Key Themes: God's strong city vs. the lofty city, perfect peace for the trusting mind, waiting on God in the night, the futility of human effort without God, the dew of resurrection, hiding during God's indignation
Historical Context: This chapter continues the Isaiah Apocalypse (chs. 24-27). After judgment (ch.24), praise (ch.25), now a song that the redeemed will sing "in that day" (v.1). The song contrasts two cities: God's strong city (salvation as its walls) vs. the lofty/fortified city of the proud that God brings to the dust (vv.5-6). The song includes one of the OT's clearest resurrection promises (v.19). The chapter ends with an invitation to hide during God's indignation — a brief period of divine wrath that will pass (vv.20-21).
We Have a Strong City (vv.1-4): 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. The defenses named are not masonry, which is the point in a book so concerned with fortification. Then the gates opened for a specific category, open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. And the two verses the chapter is best known for, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, and trust ye in the LORD for ever, for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. The Hebrew behind perfect peace is shalom shalom, the word said twice, which is the same emphatic doubling as at 6:3.
The Lofty City Laid Low (vv.5-6): For he bringeth down the high, the lofty city he layeth low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust. Two verses set against the strong city of the previous section, so the chapter puts two cities beside each other and the difference between them is what their walls are made of. And who does the treading is named, 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 (vv.7-9): The way of the just is uprightness, thou most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. Then the posture of waiting, which is this chapter's recurring subject, yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee. And a line about when the waiting happens, with my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. The reason given for wanting the judgments is instructional rather than vengeful, for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
The Wicked Learn Nothing from Grace (v.10): One verse, and it is the hardest sentence in the chapter. 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. It is placed immediately after the claim that judgments teach righteousness, and it says that kindness does not. The two verses together are the chapter's account of why the judgments in it are necessary.
Thou Wilt Ordain Peace for Us (vv.11-15): LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see. Then a request and a confession in the same sentence, LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us, for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. The confession about other rulers is unusually candid, O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us, but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. And the dead of those regimes are dismissed in a clause that will matter eight verses later, they are dead, they shall not live, they are deceased, they shall not rise.
We Have Not Wrought Any Deliverance (vv.16-18): LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Then an image of effort that produces nothing, and it is the most honest thing in the chapter, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind, we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth. Labor with no birth at the end of it. A nation that prayed under pressure and admits it achieved nothing.
Thy Dead Men Shall Live (v.19): One verse, and it reverses the clause at verse 14 word for word. There the dead of the foreign lords shall not live and shall not rise; here, thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise, awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust. The imagery is horticultural, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. With 25:8 this is the clearest resurrection statement in the Old Testament outside Daniel 12, and the fact that it answers verse 14 so exactly is why it belongs in its own section.
Hide Thyself Until the Indignation Be Past (vv.20-21): 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. The instruction is domestic and temporary and it recalls the Passover night in Exodus 12, when the households stayed indoors while something passed over. And the reason follows, for behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Ground that has absorbed murder is described as giving it back up.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Isaiah 24-27 | The King's Judgment | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

The Source of Strength - Isaiah 26:3-4
David Guzik

Perfect Peace - Isaiah 26:3-4
David Guzik

Articles

  • BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: the promised king who runs through Isaiah from beginning to end.
  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Isaiah -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • A Mind Fixed on God (v.3) — The song promises perfect peace not to the trouble-free but to the one whose mind stays fixed on God. Where does your mind wander when anxiety rises, and what would it look like to redirect it toward Him?
  • Trusting the Everlasting Rock (v.4) — Israel is called to trust in the LORD forever, because He is described as an everlasting rock. What are you trusting instead, even temporarily, that can't bear that kind of permanent weight?
  • Grace Seen but Not Received (v.10) — Even when the wicked are shown favor, they refuse to learn righteousness or acknowledge the LORD's majesty. Has God's patience with you ever become an excuse to keep drifting rather than a reason to turn back?
  • A Promise of Resurrection (v.19) — Isaiah declares that the dead will live again, their bodies rising like dew-covered ground. If you've buried someone you love, how does this promise reshape your grief?
  • Hidden Until the Storm Passes (v.20) — God tells His people to enter their rooms and shut the door for a little while until His wrath passes by. Where do you need to trust that the hard season you're in has an end already set by God?