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A Song of Victory

26 The time is coming when the people of Judah will sing this song:

“Our city[a] is protected.
The Lord is our fortress,
    and he gives us victory.
Open the city gates
for a law-abiding nation
    that is faithful to God.
The Lord gives perfect peace
    to those whose faith is firm.
So always trust the Lord
because he is forever
    our mighty rock.[b]
God has put down our enemies
in their mountain city[c]
    and rubbed it in the dirt.
Now the poor and abused
    trample all over that city.”

The Lord Can Be Trusted

Our Lord, you always do right,
and you make the path smooth
    for those who obey you.
You are the one we trust
    to bring about justice;
above all else we want
    your name to be honored.
Throughout the night,
    my heart searches for you,
because your decisions
show everyone on this earth
    how to live right.

10 Even when the wicked
are treated with mercy
    in this land of justice,
they do wrong and are blind
    to your glory, our Lord.
11 (A) Your hand is raised and ready
    to punish them,
but they don't see it.
    Put them to shame!
Show how much you care for us
and throw them into the fire
    intended for your enemies.

12 You will give us peace, Lord,
because everything we have done
    was by your power.
13 Others have ruled over us
besides you, our Lord God,
    but we obey only you.
14 Those enemies are now dead
    and can never live again.
You have punished them—
they are destroyed,
    completely forgotten.
15 Our nation has grown
    because of you, our Lord.
We have more land than before,
    and you are honored.

The Lord Gives Life to the Dead

16 When you punished our people,
they turned and prayed
    to you, our Lord.[d]
17 Because of what you did to us,
we suffered like a woman
    about to give birth.
18 But instead of having a child,
our terrible pain
    produced only wind.
We have won no victories,
and we have no descendants
    to take over the earth.

19 Your people will rise to life!
Tell them to leave their graves
    and celebrate with shouts.
You refresh the earth
like morning dew;
    you give life to the dead.

20 Go inside and lock the doors,
    my people.
Hide there for a little while,
until the Lord
    is no longer angry.

The Earth and the Sea Will Be Punished

21 The Lord will come out
to punish everyone on earth
    for their sins.
And when he does,
those who did violent crimes
    will be known and punished.

27 (B) On that day, Leviathan,[e]
    the sea monster,
will squirm and try to escape,
but the Lord will kill him
    with a cruel, sharp sword.

Protection and Forgiveness

The Lord said:

At that time you must sing
    about a fruitful[f] vineyard.
I, the Lord, will protect it
    and always keep it watered.
I will guard it day and night
    to keep it from harm.
I am no longer angry.
    But if it produces thorns,
I will go to war against it
    and burn it to the ground.
Yet if the vineyard depends
    on me for protection,
it will become my friend
    and be at peace with me.

Someday Israel will take root
    like a vine.
It will blossom and bear fruit
    that covers the earth.

I, the Lord, didn't punish and kill
    the people of Israel
as fiercely as I punished
    and killed their enemies.
I carefully measured out
    Israel's punishment[g]
and sent the scorching heat
    to chase them far away.

There's only one way
that Israel's sin and guilt
    can be completely forgiven:
They must crush the stones
of every pagan altar
    and place of worship.

The Lord Will Bring His People Together

10 Fortress cities are left
like a desert
    where no one lives.
Cattle walk through the ruins,
    stripping the trees bare.
11 When broken branches
    fall to the ground,
women pick them up
    to feed the fire.
But these people are so stupid
that the God who created them
    will show them no mercy.

12 The time is coming when the Lord will shake the land between the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he will bring all of his people together. 13 A loud trumpet will be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria and Egypt will return to worship the Lord on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 26.1 city: Probably Jerusalem.
  2. 26.4 mighty rock: See the note at 17.10.
  3. 26.5 our enemies … city: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 26.16 Lord: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 16.
  5. 27.1 Leviathan: God's victory over this monster sometimes stands for God's power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of his enemies, especially Egypt.
  6. 27.2 fruitful: Some Hebrew manuscripts have “lovely.”
  7. 27.8 I … punishment: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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