Isaiah

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.

1On that day people in the land of Judah will sing this song: "We have a strong city. God makes his saving power its walls and defenses."

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

2Open the gates! Let the nation that does what is right and stays faithful come in.

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

3You keep a person in perfect peace when his mind rests on you, because he trusts you.

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

4Trust the LORD forever. The LORD God is a rock that lasts forever.

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.

5He brings down those who live high above others. He lays the proud city low, down to the ground, down into the dust.

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

6Feet trample that city down — the feet of the poor, the steps of people in need.

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

7The road of a good person is smooth and level. You, who are always fair, make the path of good people straight.

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.

8Yes, LORD, we walk in the way of your judgments and wait for you. Our hearts long for your name and want to remember you.

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.

9At night my whole self longs for you, and in the morning my spirit looks for you. When your judgments come to the earth, the people of the world learn to do right.

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.

10Even when kindness is shown to a wicked man, he does not learn to do right. In a land of honest people he still cheats, and he refuses to see how great the LORD is.

NoteThe KJV "Let favour be shewed to the wicked" is not a command to be kind to him. It means "even when he is treated kindly."

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.

11LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. They will see how strongly you stand up for your people, and they will be ashamed. The fire meant for your enemies will burn them up.

NoteThe KJV "their envy at the people" does not mean the enemies are jealous. The old word covers God's strong, protective feeling for his own people.

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

12LORD, you will settle peace on us. Everything we have done, you are the one who did it for us.

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

13LORD our God, other masters besides you have ruled over us. But your name is the only one we speak.

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.

14Those masters are dead; they will not live again. They are gone, and they will not rise. You punished them, destroyed them, and wiped out every memory of them.

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.

15You have made the nation larger, LORD; you have made the nation larger. You have gained honor for yourself. You have pushed its borders far out.

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

16LORD, when people were in trouble they came to you. When you were correcting them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

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.

17A woman close to giving birth twists in pain and cries out. That is how we were in front of you, 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.

18We were like that woman. We were in pain, but all we gave birth to was wind. We brought no rescue to the earth, and no new life into the world.

NoteThe last line of this verse is hard to read in the old Hebrew. It may mean "no one in the world was born," or "the people of the world have not fallen." Both readings say the effort produced nothing.

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.

19Your dead people will live. Their bodies will rise. Wake up and sing, you who lie in the dust! Your dew is like the fresh dew of morning, and the earth will give back its 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.

20Come, my people, go into your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide for a short while, until the anger has passed by.

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.

21Look, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the people of the earth for their sin. The earth will show the blood that was spilled on it and will hide its dead no longer.