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Isaiah 26-27
Easy-to-Read Version
Isaiah 26-27
Easy-to-Read Version
A Song of Praise to God
26 At that time people will sing this song in Judah:
We have a strong city with strong walls and defenses.
But God gives us our salvation.[a]
2 Open the gates for the good people to enter.
They are the God’s faithful followers.
3 God, you give true peace
to people who depend on you,
to those who trust in you.
4 So trust the Lord always,
because in the Lord Yah[b] you have a place of safety forever.
5 But he will destroy the proud city
and punish those who live there.
He will throw that high city down to the ground.
It will fall into the dust.
6 Then poor and humble people will walk on those ruins.
7 Honesty is the path good people follow.
They follow the path that is straight and true.
And God, you make that way smooth
and easy to follow.
8 But, Lord, we are waiting for your way of justice.
We want to honor you and your name.
9 At night my soul longs to be with you,
and the spirit in me wants to be with you at the dawn of every new day.
When your way of justice comes to the world,
people will learn the right way of living.
10 Evil people will not learn to do good,
even if you show them only kindness.
They will still do wrong, even if they live in a good world.
They never see the Lord’s greatness.
11 Lord, your arm is raised to punish them,
but they don’t see it.
Show them how strong your love[c] is for your people.
Then those who are evil will be ashamed.
Yes, your fire will destroy your enemies.
12 Lord, you have succeeded in doing everything we tried to do,
so give us peace.
God Will Give New Life to His People
13 Lord, you are our God,
but in the past, we followed other lords.
We belonged to other masters,[d]
but now we want people to remember only one name—yours.
14 Those dead lords will not come to life.
Those ghosts will not rise from death.
You decided to destroy them,
and you destroyed everything that makes us think about them.
15 Lord, you have helped the nation you love.
You made our nation grow
and brought honor to yourself.[e]
16 Lord, people remember you
when they are in trouble.
So because of your punishment,
we called out to you.
17 Lord, because of you we were in pain,
like a woman giving birth,
who struggles and cries out when it is time.
18 But we struggled in pain for nothing.
We gave birth only to wind.
We did nothing to save the land.
No one was born to live in the world.
19 But the Lord says,
“Your people have died,
but they will live again.
The bodies of my people
will rise from death.
Dead people in the ground,
stand and be happy!
The dew covering you is like
the dew sparkling in the light of a new day.
It shows that a new time is coming,
when the earth will give birth to the dead who are in it.”
Judgment: Reward or Punishment
20 My people, go into your rooms
and lock your doors.
Hide in there for a short time
until God’s anger is finished.
21 Look! The Lord is coming out from his place[f]
to judge the people of the world for the bad things they have done.
The earth will reveal the blood that has been spilled on it.
It will no longer hide the proof of those murders.
27 At that time the Lord will judge Leviathan,[g]
the crooked snake.
He will use his great sword, his hard and powerful sword,
to punish Leviathan, that twisting, turning snake.
He will kill the monster of the sea.[h]
2 At that time people will sing
about the pleasant vineyard.
3 “I, the Lord, will care for the vineyard.
I will water it at the right time.
I will guard it day and night.
No one will hurt it.
4 I am not angry.
But if there is war and someone builds a wall of thornbushes,[i]
then I will march to it and burn it.
5 But if anyone comes to me for safety
and wants to make peace with me,
then let them come and make peace.
6 In the future, Jacob will take root firmly on his soil.
Then Israel will sprout and bloom,
and the world will be filled with his fruit.”
God Will Send Israel Away
7 Israel was not hurt as badly as the enemy who tried to hurt it. Not as many of its people were killed as those who tried to kill them.
8 The Lord will settle his argument with Israel by sending the people far away. He will speak harshly to Israel. His words will burn like the hot desert wind.
9 How will Jacob’s guilt be forgiven? What will happen so his sins can be taken away? The rocks of the altar will be crushed to dust; the statues[j] and altars for worshiping false gods will all be destroyed.
10 The great city will be empty; it will be like a desert. All the people will be gone—they will run away. The city will be like an open pasture. Young cattle will eat grass there. The cattle will eat leaves from the branches of the vines. 11 The vines will become dry, and the branches will break off. Women will use them for firewood.
The people refuse to understand. So God, their Maker, will not comfort them or be kind to them.
12 At that time the Lord will begin separating his people from others. He will begin at the Euphrates River and will gather his people from there[k] to the River of Egypt.[l]
You people of Israel will be gathered together one by one. 13 Many of my people are now lost in Assyria. Some of my people have run away to Egypt. But at that time a great trumpet will be blown, and all those people will come back to Jerusalem. They will bow down before the Lord on that holy mountain.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:1 Or “We have a strong city that provides us with salvation. It has strong walls and defenses.”
- Isaiah 26:4 Lord Yah Or “Yah Yahweh,” a Hebrew name for God.
- Isaiah 26:11 strong … love The Hebrew word means strong feelings like love, hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy.
- Isaiah 26:13 we followed … masters This is a wordplay. It could also be translated, “Husbands other than you married us.” One word sounds like “Baal,” the other like a title for God.
- Isaiah 26:15 Or “You gathered together the nation you love, the nation you drove into faraway lands.”
- Isaiah 26:21 his place Probably the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 27:1 Leviathan The Dragon or giant snake. Some ancient stories say the Dragon was an enemy of God.
- Isaiah 27:1 monster of the sea This is probably Rahab. Some ancient stories tell of Rahab fighting with God.
- Isaiah 27:4 a wall of thornbushes Literally, “thorns and thistles.” Farmers planted walls of thornbushes around vineyards to protect them from animals. See Isa. 5:5.
- Isaiah 27:9 statues Or “idols.” See “idol” in the Word List.
- Isaiah 27:12 He will begin … from there Literally, “He will begin threshing at the stream of the river.” This Hebrew word for stream is like the word meaning “head of grain.”
- Isaiah 27:12 Euphrates River … River of Egypt These are the borders of the land God promised to give Israel.
Isaiah 26-27
New International Version
Isaiah 26-27
New International Version
A Song of Praise
26 In that day(A) this song will be sung(B) in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;(C)
God makes salvation
its walls(D) and ramparts.(E)
2 Open the gates(F)
that the righteous(G) nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace(H)
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust(I) in you.
4 Trust(J) in the Lord forever,(K)
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock(L) eternal.
5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground(M)
and casts it down to the dust.(N)
6 Feet trample(O) it down—
the feet of the oppressed,(P)
the footsteps of the poor.(Q)
7 The path of the righteous is level;(R)
you, the Upright One,(S) make the way of the righteous smooth.(T)
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a](U)
we wait(V) for you;
your name(W) and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;(X)
in the morning my spirit longs(Y) for you.
When your judgments(Z) come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.(AA)
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,(AB)
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil(AC)
and do not regard(AD) the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,(AE)
but they do not see(AF) it.
Let them see your zeal(AG) for your people and be put to shame;(AH)
let the fire(AI) reserved for your enemies consume them.
12 Lord, you establish peace(AJ) for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done(AK) for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords(AL) besides you have ruled over us,
but your name(AM) alone do we honor.(AN)
14 They are now dead,(AO) they live no more;
their spirits(AP) do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;(AQ)
you wiped out all memory of them.(AR)
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
you have enlarged the nation.(AS)
You have gained glory for yourself;
you have extended all the borders(AT) of the land.
16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;(AU)
when you disciplined(AV) them,
they could barely whisper(AW) a prayer.[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth(AX)
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
but we gave birth(AY) to wind.
We have not brought salvation(AZ) to the earth,
and the people of the world have not come to life.(BA)
19 But your dead(BB) will live, Lord;
their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust(BC)
wake up and shout for joy—
your dew(BD) is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.(BE)
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors(BF) behind you;
hide(BG) yourselves for a little while
until his wrath(BH) has passed by.(BI)
21 See, the Lord is coming(BJ) out of his dwelling(BK)
to punish(BL) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood(BM) shed on it;
the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
Deliverance of Israel
27 In that day,(BN)
the Lord will punish with his sword(BO)—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan(BP) the gliding serpent,(BQ)
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster(BR) of the sea.
2 In that day(BS)—
“Sing(BT) about a fruitful vineyard:(BU)
3 I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water(BV) it continually.
I guard(BW) it day and night
so that no one may harm(BX) it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.(BY)
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;(BZ)
let them make peace(CA) with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.”
6 In days to come Jacob will take root,(CB)
Israel will bud and blossom(CC)
and fill all the world with fruit.(CD)
7 Has the Lord struck her
as he struck(CE) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
as those were killed who killed her?
8 By warfare[c] and exile(CF) you contend with her—
with his fierce blast he drives her out,
as on a day the east wind(CG) blows.
9 By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned(CH) for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:(CI)
When he makes all the altar stones(CJ)
to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles[d](CK) or incense altars(CL)
will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,(CM)
an abandoned settlement, forsaken(CN) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,(CO)
there they lie down;(CP)
they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off(CQ)
and women come and make fires(CR) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;(CS)
so their Maker has no compassion on them,
and their Creator(CT) shows them no favor.(CU)
12 In that day the Lord will thresh(CV) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,(CW) and you, Israel, will be gathered(CX) up one by one. 13 And in that day(CY) a great trumpet(CZ) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled(DA) in Egypt(DB) will come and worship(DC) the Lord on the holy mountain(DD) in Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 26:8 Or judgments
- Isaiah 26:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
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