| 1 | In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:
[a]We have a strong city; [the Lord] sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. |
| 2 | Open the gates, that the [uncompromisingly] righteous nation which keeps her faith
and
her troth [with God] may enter in. |
| 3 | You will guard him
and
keep him in perfect
and
constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You,
and
hopes confidently in You. |
| 4 | So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]. |
| 5 | For He has brought down the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city; He lays it low, lays it low to the ground; He brings it even to the dust. |
| 6 | The foot has trampled it down—even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. |
| 7 | The way of the [consistently] righteous (those living in moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relationship of their lives) is level
and
straight; You, O [Lord], Who are upright, direct aright
and
make level the path of the [uncompromisingly] just
and
righteous. |
| 8 | Yes, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we wait [expectantly] for You; our heartfelt desire is for Your name and for the remembrance of You. |
| 9 | My soul yearns for You [O Lord] in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for [only] when Your judgments are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God). |
| 10 | Though favor is shown to the wicked, yet they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and refuse to see the majesty of the Lord. |
| 11 | Though Your hand is lifted high to strike, Lord, they do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be ashamed; yes, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them. |
| 12 | Lord, You will ordain peace (God’s favor and blessings, both temporal and spiritual) for us, for You have also wrought in us
and
for us all our works. |
| 13 | O Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we will acknowledge
and
mention Your name only. |
| 14 | They [the former tyrant masters] are dead, they shall not live
and
reappear; they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise
and
come back. Therefore You have visited and made an end of them and caused every memory of them [every trace of their supremacy] to perish. |
| 15 | You have increased the nation, O Lord; You have increased the nation. You are glorified; You have enlarged all the borders of the land. |
| 16 | Lord, when they were in trouble
and
distress, they sought
and
visited You; they poured out a prayerful whisper when Your chastening was upon them. |
| 17 | As a woman with child drawing near the time of her delivery is in pain
and
writhes and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before You (at Your presence), O Lord. |
| 18 | We have been with child, we have been writhing
and
in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth [only] wind. We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world [of Israel] have not yet been born. |
| 19 | Your dead shall live [O Lord]; the bodies of our dead [saints] shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For Your dew [O Lord] is a dew of [sparkling] light [heavenly, supernatural dew]; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead You will let Your dew fall]. |
| 20 | Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past. |
| 21 | For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place [heaven] to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain
and
conceal her guilt. |
Cross references:
-
Isaiah 26:19 : Ezek. 37:11-12.
|