| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1At that time, people will sing this song in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; God crafts victory, its walls and ramparts. | 1At that time this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city! The LORD's deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. |
| 2Open your gates, so the righteous nation that safeguards its faith may enter. | 2Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter--one that remains trustworthy. |
| 3You will keep perfectly peaceful the one whose mind remains focused on you, because he remains in you. | 3You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you. |
| 4"Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD you have an everlasting rock. | 4Trust in the LORD from this time forward, even in Yah, the LORD, an enduring protector! |
| 5For he has made drunk the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low to the ground casting it down to the dust, | 5Indeed, the LORD knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, he throws it down to the dust. |
| 6by the feet of the oppressed who trample it, by the footsteps of the needy. | 6It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor." |
| 7"The path of the righteous is level; O Upright One, you make safe the way of justice. | 7The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you make is straight. |
| 8Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait; your name and your Law are the soul's desire. | 8Yes, as your judgments unfold, O LORD, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow. |
| 9My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me searches for you. For when your judgments come upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn righteousness. | 9I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice. |
| 10If favor is shown to the wicked, they don't learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they act perversely and do not perceive the majesty of the LORD. | 10If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; they do not see the LORD's majesty revealed. |
| 11"LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. And let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame— yes, let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them! | 11O LORD, you are ready to act, but they don't even notice. They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, yes, fire will consume your enemies. |
| 12LORD, you will decide peace for us, for you have indeed accomplished all our achievements for us. | 12O LORD, you make us secure, for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. |
| 13O LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but through you alone we acknowledge your name. | 13O LORD, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone. |
| 14The dead won't live, and the departed spirits won't rise— to that end, you punished and destroyed them, then locked away all memory of them. | 14The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. That is because you came in judgment and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them. |
| 15"But you have enlarged the nation, LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained honor; you have extended all the borders of the land. | 15You have made the nation larger, O LORD, you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor, you have extended all the borders of the land. |
| 16LORD, they came to you in distress; they poured out their secret prayer when your chastenings were afflicting them. | 16O LORD, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline. |
| 17Just as a pregnant woman writhes and cries out during her labor when she is about to give birth, so were we because of you, LORD. | 17As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O LORD. |
| 18We were pregnant, writhing in pain, but we gave birth only to wind. We have not won your victory on earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world been born." | 18We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; people to populate the world are not born. |
| 19"But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Those who live in the dust will wake up and shout for joy! For your dew is like the dew of dawn, and the earth will give birth to the dead. | 19Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. |
| 20Come, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. | 20Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over! |
| 21For see, the LORD is coming from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sins; the earth will reveal the blood that has been shed on it, and will no longer conceal its slain." | 21For look, the LORD is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain. |
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