Isaiah 26 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

A Song of Salvation

A Hymn of Praise

Isa 26:1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.

Isa 26:2

Isa 26:2Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

Isa 26:3

Isa 26:3You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

Isa 26:4

Isa 26:4Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.[fn]

Isa 26:5

Isa 26:5For He brings down those who dwell on high,
The lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.

Isa 26:6

Isa 26:6The foot shall tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.”

Isa 26:7

Isa 26:7The way of the just is uprightness;
O Most Upright,
You weigh the path of the just.

Isa 26:8

Isa 26:8Yes, in the way of Your judgments,
O LORD, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.

Isa 26:9

Isa 26:9With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Isa 26:10

Isa 26:10Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

Isa 26:11

Isa 26:11LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.

Isa 26:12

Isa 26:12LORD, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us.

Isa 26:13

Isa 26:13O LORD our God, masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.

Isa 26:14

Isa 26:14They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to perish.

Isa 26:15

Isa 26:15You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders of the land.

Isa 26:16

Isa 26:16LORD, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.

Isa 26:17

Isa 26:17As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O LORD.

Isa 26:18

Isa 26:18We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Isa 26:19

Isa 26:19Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body[fn] they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment

Isa 26:20

Isa 26:20Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.

Isa 26:21

Isa 26:21For behold, the LORD comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(26:4)

Or Rock of Ages

(26:19)

Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Syriac and Targum read their dead bodies; Septuagint reads those in the tombs.

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.