A Song of Victory
26 In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
He appoints walls
and bulwarks for security.
2 Open the gates,
that the righteous nation may enter,
the one who remains faithful.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock.
5 For He brings down those who dwell on high,
the lofty city; He lays it low; He lays it low,
even to the ground;
He brings it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor
and the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
8 In the way of Your judgments, O Lord,
we have waited for You eagerly;
the desire of our souls is Your name,
even Your memory.
9 With my soul I have desired You in the night;
my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
for when Your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though favor is shown to the wicked,
yet he will not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals unjustly
and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
12 Lord, You will ordain peace for us,
for You also have done all our works for us.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides You have had dominion over us,
but through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The dead shall not live;
the departed spirits shall not rise.
Therefore, You have punished and destroyed them
and made all remembrance of them to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, in trouble they have sought You;
they poured out a prayer
when Your chastening was on them.
17 Like a woman with child, who is in pain and cries out in her pangs
when she draws near the time of her delivery,
so have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain,
we have, as it were, brought forth wind;
we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
nor were the inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead shall live,
their corpses shall arise.
Awake and sing,
you who dwell in dust,
for your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
and the earth shall give birth to the departed spirits.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide for a little while
until the indignation is over.
21 For the Lord comes out of His place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
the earth also shall disclose her bloodshed
and shall cover her slain no more.
