Isaiah 26-28

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 the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

2In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard.

3I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;

4I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.

5Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me— yes, let them make peace with Me.”

6In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

7Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her?

8By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.

9Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

10For the fortified city lies deserted— a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.

11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

12In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.

13And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

1Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.

2Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.

3The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.

4The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

5On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,

6a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

7These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

8For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth.

9Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?

10For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”

11Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people

12to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.

13Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.

15For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

16So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.

18Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.

19As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.

20Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you.

21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.

22So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.

23Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say.

24Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil?

25When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border.

26For his God instructs and teaches him properly.

27Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.

28Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it.

29This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.