Isaiah 26

KJV · Chapter 26/66

1In 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.

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

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

4Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

📖 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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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