Bible Glide

Isaiah 26

Isaiah 26 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Isaiah 26 presents a song of trust and salvation. It contrasts the security God gives his people with the downfall of proud cities and unjust rulers. The chapter also speaks of longing for the LORD, discipline that leads to prayer, and hope beyond death.

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What happens in Isaiah 26?

The chapter opens with a song celebrating a city secured by salvation rather than strength. It calls the faithful to enter and promises perfect peace to those who trust in the LORD. Prideful powers are brought low, while the way of the righteous is made straight. The people wait for God, confess his name alone, and long for his presence. The chapter then shifts to judgment, discipline, and the limits of human effort, before ending with a clear hope that the dead will live again. It closes with a call to hide until God's wrath has passed and a warning that the LORD will judge evil and reveal hidden bloodshed.

Isaiah 26 belongs to a section of Isaiah that looks ahead to the LORD's victory, the downfall of human pride, and the restoration of his people. It follows a celebration of God's salvation in the previous chapter and continues toward later visions of judgment and hope. The chapter blends worship, warning, and future hope.

Themes to notice

  • Trust and peaceThose who keep their minds fixed on the LORD are promised steady peace and security.
  • Judgment on prideGod brings down arrogant powers and exposes the false strength of human rule.
  • Hope beyond deathThe chapter ends with the promise that the dead will live and God's people will be raised.

Questions for Isaiah 26

  • What does Isaiah 26 teach about the kind of peace God gives to those who trust him?
  • How does the chapter contrast the fate of the proud with the path of the righteous?
  • What hope does the final section give about death, judgment, and God's rescue?

Read the full text of Isaiah 26 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Isaiah 26

A Song of Salvation

1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;

salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

2Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—

one that remains faithful.

3You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind,

because he trusts in You.

4Trust in the LORD forever,

because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

5For He has humbled those who dwell on high;

He lays the lofty city low.

He brings it down to the ground;

He casts it into the dust.

6Feet trample it down—

the feet of the oppressed,

the steps of the poor.

7The path of the righteous is level;

You clear a straight path for the upright.

8Yes, we wait for You, O LORD;

we walk in the path of Your judgments.

Your name and renown

are the desire of our souls.

9My soul longs for You in the night;

indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn.

For when Your judgments come upon the earth,

the people of the world learn righteousness.

10Though grace is shown to the wicked man,

he does not learn righteousness.

In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly

and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

11O LORD, Your hand is upraised,

but they do not see it.

They will see Your zeal for Your people

and be put to shame.

The fire set for Your enemies

will consume them!

12O LORD, You will establish peace for us.

For all that we have accomplished,

You have done for us.

13O LORD our God, other lords besides You have had dominion,

but Your name alone do we confess.

14The dead will not live;

the departed spirits will not rise.

Therefore You have punished and destroyed them;

You have wiped out all memory of them.

15You have enlarged the nation, O LORD;

You have enlarged the nation.

You have gained glory for Yourself;

You have extended all the borders of the land.

16O LORD, they sought You in their distress;

when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

17As a woman with child about to give birth

writhes and cries out in pain,

so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

18We were with child; we writhed in pain;

but we gave birth to wind.

We have given no salvation to the earth,

nor brought any life into the world.

19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise.

Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!

For your dew is like the dew of the morning,

and the earth will bring forth her dead.

20Go, my people, enter your rooms

and shut your doors behind you.

Hide yourselves a little while

until the wrath has passed.

21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.

The earth will reveal her bloodshed

and will no longer conceal her slain.

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