Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
Chapter 26
The Judgments of the Lord
Let the righteous walk in righteousness. You make smooth the path of the just,and we only seek the way of your laws, O Lord. Your name and your memory are the desire of our hearts.
My soul yearns for you in the night; for you, my spirit keeps vigil. When your judgments come to earth, the world’s inhabitants learn to be upright.
Lord, please give us peace; for all that we accomplish is your work.
For they sought you in distress, they cried out to you during their punishment.
As a woman in travail moans and writhes in pain, so are we now in your presence.
We conceived, we had labor pains, but we gave birth to the wind. We have not brought salvation to the land; the inhabitants of a new world have not been born.
Your dead will live! Their corpses will rise! Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.
Commentaries
The Judgments of the Lord.
God’s justice and salvation are available to all people (9). The wicked are enemies and invaders who have contaminated the earth with their idols. Only God’s intervention can bring peace (12-13).
Resurrection.
This passage discusses the restoration of the people (cf. Ez 37)—a nation torn apart by war and exile. Only the Lord has the power to revive the sinful people by defeating their enemies and causing them to flourish again.