Isaías 26

BLIVRE · Chapter 26/66

1Naquele dia, se cantará este cântico na terra de Judá: Temos uma cidade forte! [Deus lhe] pôs a salvação por muros e antemuros.

2Abri as portas, para que por elas entre a nação justa, que guarda fidelidades.

3Tu guardarás em completa paz aquele que tem firme entendimento, pois ele confia em ti.

4Confiai no SENHOR para sempre, pois no SENHOR DEUS está a rocha eterna.

5Pois ele abate aos que habitam em lugares altos, a cidade elevada; certamente ele a abaixará até o chão, e a derrubará até o pó.

6Pés a pisotearão; os pés dos afligidos, os passos dos pobres.

7O caminho do justo é todo plano; tu [que és] reto nivelas o andar do justo.

8Também no caminho dos teus juízos esperamos em ti; em teu nome e em tua lembrança está o desejo de [nossa] alma.

9Com minha alma te desejei de noite, e [com] meu espírito dentro de mim te busquei de madrugada; pois quando teus juízos [estão] sobre a terra, os moradores do mundo aprendem a justiça.

10[Ainda] que se faça favor ao perverso, nem assim ele aprende a justiça; [até] na terra dos corretos ele pratica maldade, e não dá atenção à majestade do SENHOR.

11Ó SENHOR, tua mão está levantada, mas eles não [a] veem; [porém] eles verão e serão envergonhados pelo zelo [que tens] do [teu] povo; e o fogo consumirá a teus adversários.

12Ó SENHOR, tu nos fornecerá paz; pois todos os nossos feitos tu fizeste por nós.

13Ó SENHOR nosso Deus, outros senhores fora de ti nos dominaram; mas somente em ti, em teu nome, mantínhamos nossos pensamentos.

14Eles estão mortos, não [voltarão] a viver; fantasmas não ressuscitarão; por isso tu os visitaste e os destruíste, e eliminaste toda a memória deles.

15Tu, SENHOR, engrandeceste esta nação; engrandeceste esta nação, [e] te fizeste glorioso; alargaste os limites da terra.

16Ó SENHOR, na aflição eles te buscaram; [quando] tu os castigaste, uma oração eles sussurraram.

17Tal como a grávida quando chega a hora do parto, sofre e dá gritos por suas dores, assim fomos nós diante de tua presença, SENHOR.

18Concebemos e tivemos dores, porém geramos [nada além] de vento. Não trouxemos libertação à terra, nem os moradores do mundo caíram.

19Os teus mortos viverão, [junto com] meu cadáver, [assim] ressuscitarão; festejai e sede alegres, vós que habitais no pó! Pois o teu orvalho [é] orvalho de luz, e a terra gerará de si [seus] mortos.

20Vai, ó povo meu; entra em teus quartos, e fecha tuas portas ao redor de ti; esconde-te por um momento, até que a ira tenha passado.

21Porque eis que o SENHOR sairá de seu lugar para punir a maldade dos moradores da terra sobre eles; e a terra mostrará seus sangues, e não mais cobrirá seus mortos.

📖 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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