Isaías 26

ARC · Chapter 26/66

1N'aquelle dia se cantará este cantico na terra de Judah: Uma forte cidade temos, Deus lhe poz a salvação por muros e antemuros.

2Abri as portas, para que entre n'ellas a nação justa, que observa a verdade.

3Tu conservarás em paz aquelle cuja mente está firme em ti, porque confiará em ti

4Confiae no Senhor perpetuamente; porque em Deus Senhor ha uma rocha eterna.

5Porque elle abate os que habitam em logares sublimes, como tambem a cidade exalçada humilhará até ao chão, e a derribará até ao pó

6O pé a atropellará; os pés dos afflictos, e os passos dos pobres.

7O caminho do justo é todo plano: tu rectamente pesas o andar do justo.

8Até no caminho dos teus juizos, Senhor, te esperamos, no teu nome e na tua lembrança está o desejo da nossa alma.

9Na minha alma te desejei de noite, e com o meu espirito, que está dentro de mim, madrugarei a buscar-te; porque, havendo os teus juizos na terra, os moradores do mundo aprendem justiça.

10Ainda que se faça favor ao impio, nem por isso aprende a justiça; até na terra da rectidão obra iniquidade, e não olha para a alteza do Senhor.

11Ó Senhor, ainda que esteja exaltada a tua mão, nem por isso a vêem: vel-a-hão, porém, e confundir-se-hão por causa do zelo que tens do teu povo; e o fogo consumirá a teus adversarios.

12Ó Senhor, tu nos darás a paz, porque tu és o que fizeste em nós todas as nossas obras.

13Ó Senhor Deus nosso, já outros senhores teem tido dominio sobre nós; porém, por ti só, nos lembramos do teu nome

14Morrendo elles, não tornarão a viver; fallecendo, não resuscitarão; por isso os visitaste e destruiste, e apagaste toda a sua memoria.

15Tu, Senhor, augmentaste a esta gente, tu augmentaste a esta gente, fizeste-te glorioso; mas longe os lançaste, a todos os fins da terra.

16Ó Senhor, no aperto te visitaram; vindo sobre elles a tua correcção, derramaram a sua oração secreta.

17Como a mulher gravida, quando está proxima ao parto, tem dôres do parto, e dá gritos nas suas dôres, assim fomos nós por causa da tua face, ó Senhor!

18Bem concebemos nós, e tivemos dôres de parto, porém parimos só vento: livramento não trouxemos á terra, nem cairam os moradores do mundo

19Os teus mortos viverão, como tambem o meu corpo morto, e assim resuscitarão; despertae e exultae, os que habitaes no pó, porque o teu orvalho será como o orvalho de hortaliças, e a terra lançará de si os mortos

20Vae pois, povo meu, entra nos teus quartos, e fecha as tuas portas sobre ti: esconde-te por um só momento, até que passe a ira.

21Porque eis-que o Senhor sairá do seu logar, para castigar os moradores da terra, por causa da sua iniquidade, e a terra descobrirá o seu sangue, e não encobrirá mais os seus mortos á espada.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A song of trust sung by Judah: a strong city protected by God, where the righteous person who trusts in him has perfect peace. The chapter includes one of the clearest early references to the resurrection of the dead in the Hebrew Bible.

Explanation

This song contrasts God's 'strong city' with the arrogant 'lofty city' mentioned earlier (likely Babylon or another proud power), reinforcing that true security comes from trust in God, not from walls or political power. The phrase 'you will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is fixed on you' is one of the most quoted statements on inner peace in all of biblical wisdom literature. The declaration 'your dead will live... awake and shout for joy' is one of the oldest and most explicit expressions of resurrection hope in the entire Old Testament, a concept that would be more fully developed in Daniel and in the New Testament. The practical application today is that genuine peace is born from a mind fixed on God, not from the absence of external problems.

Fun facts

  • Verse 3 ('you will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is fixed on you') is one of the most quoted Bible texts on peace of mind and is rendered in some versions as 'perfect peace' — one of the most popular phrases on Christian cards and decorative plaques even today.
  • The statement 'your dead will live, my dead body shall arise' is considered by scholars to be one of the earliest clear expressions of hope in bodily resurrection in the entire Old Testament, predating texts like Daniel 12:2.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 26:1The image of “walls and bulwarks” describes Jerusalem protected not by its own physical defenses. The real protection, the text says, is the salvation God sets up in place of ramparts.
  2. Isaías 26:2An invitation to open the gates of the fortified city mentioned in the previous verse, so that the “righteous nation,” the one that keeps the truth, may enter — God’s secure city receives the faithful.
  3. Isaías 26:3One of the most quoted promises in the book: God keeps in perfect peace whoever has a mind fixed on Him, because that person trusts fully in God.
  4. Isaías 26:4A direct call: trust in the LORD forever, because He is described as “everlasting strength” — a foundation that will never give way, unlike any human power.
  5. Isaías 26:5God humbles those who live in high and arrogant places, bringing exalted cities down to the ground, reducing them to dust — the same pattern of humbling pride seen in earlier chapters.
  6. Isaías 26:6After being brought down, this proud city is trampled by the very feet of the afflicted and the poor — a reversal: those once oppressed now walk over their fallen oppressor.
  7. Isaías 26:7In contrast to the arrogant city, the path of the righteous is described as straight and level, because God weighs and directs the steps of those who act rightly.
  8. Isaías 26:8The people declare that they wait for God even in the midst of hard judgments, because His name and His renown are the true desire of the soul — a trust that persists even through suffering.
  9. Isaías 26:9Describes an intense, ongoing desire to seek God, night and day, explaining that when God’s judgments happen on the earth, the people of the world learn what righteousness is.
  10. Isaías 26:10But not everyone learns: even when the wicked receives favor and kindness, he goes on doing evil, failing to see the majesty of the LORD — grace alone does not change someone already determined to go wrong.
  11. Isaías 26:11Even when God’s power is clearly on display, many do not notice — but in the end they will see and be ashamed, while the fire of God’s zeal for His people consumes His enemies.
  12. Isaías 26:12An acknowledgment that every good accomplishment of the people comes from God: He is the one who has done everything they have done, including the peace they now enjoy.
  13. Isaías 26:13Acknowledges that other “lords,” foreign powers, have ruled the people in the past, but only the name of the true God is the one truly worth remembering.
  14. Isaías 26:14Speaks of these dead former oppressors: they will not live again or rise, because God visited them in judgment and completely erased their memory — a contrast with the promise of life in the next verse.
  15. Isaías 26:15Acknowledges that it was God who made this nation grow and become glorious, even though He scattered its people to the ends of the earth during the exile.
  16. Isaías 26:16A reflection on times of hardship: it was precisely in distress, when God’s discipline came upon them, that the people turned to pray in secret.
  17. Isaías 26:17The image of a pregnant woman in labor, in pain and crying out in her pangs, opens a comparison the next verse completes: an enormous effort about to end with no result at all, the people suffering as much as someone in labor, but without the relief of a birth.
  18. Isaías 26:18Using the same image of labor from the previous verse, the people lament that all that suffering did not produce real deliverance, as if they had “as it were brought forth wind” instead of a child — effort without result.
  19. Isaías 26:19The promise that the dead will live is one of the most debated verses in the book regarding what happens after death. Different traditions read this promise in very different ways, and the text by itself does not settle that debate.
  20. Isaías 26:20After the complaint, comes a call to confident waiting: let the people hide safely for a brief moment while God’s wrath passes over the earth, like someone taking shelter from a passing storm.
  21. Isaías 26:21Explains the reason for the call to hide: the LORD is coming out to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness, and the earth itself will finally expose the blood it had shed and hidden — a final settling of accounts.

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