Isaiah 26

In that day, there will be heard in Judah,
by the people, the words to this song:
God's salvation envelops the ramparts
and our walls -- thus, our city is strong.

Open up, now, the gates for the nation,
let the faithful and righteous come through.
You give peace -- perfect peace to the steadfast
for their trust and reliance on you.

Place your hope in the LORD's hands forever,
for the LORD God's the rock you can trust.
For he humbles and lays low the haughty,
and he turns their great city to dust.

By the poor and oppressed, it is trampled,
by the feet of those others neglect.
But the road of the righteous is level;
​you make paths, for the upright, direct.

In the way of your judgments, we waited,
we have eagerly waited for you;
the desire of our soul is your glory,
that the fame of your name grows anew.

My soul longs for you well after darkness,
and I seek you with dawn's morning light;
when your judgments inhabit the world,
​only then will the earth know what's right.

But when grace has been shown to the wicked,
any righteousness will go unlearned.
In the land of good, he pursues evil;
the LORD's majesty is not discerned.

LORD, they do not see your fist you've lifted,
let your zeal for your own bring them shame;
let the fire for your foes, then, devour
and consume them with your holy flame.

LORD, your peace for us, you have established;
all our works are from you, not our own.
LORD, our God, we have been ruled by others,
but your name is remembered, alone.

Those we served are long gone and departed,
and the dead cannot rule as before;
you've destroyed them, and they have been punished,
they're forgotten, remembered no more.

You've increased and enlarged, LORD, our nation,
and have seen that our borders expand;
we give glory to you, as a people,
for expanding the edge of our land.

LORD, they sought you out in their oppression,
with your punishment -- they could not bear.
When your chastening left them in anguish,
then they barely could whisper a prayer.

Like the pain of a woman in labor,
who is writhing and holding on tight;
so, were we in the midst of your presence.
So, have we been, O LORD, in your sight.

We were pregnant, we writhed, and we labored,
with the wind as result of our birth.
We have given the world no salvation,
​nor produced any offspring on earth.

But your dead will live -- their bodies rising!
From the dust, with joy, they'll rise and shout!
For your dew's like the dew of the morning,
from the earth will the dead be cast out.

Go, my people, and enter your chambers,
and be sure that your doors are locked fast!
Hide yourselves for a brief, little moment
til the LORD's wrath and fury has passed.

See, the LORD's coming out of his dwelling
for the punishment of mankind's sin.
And the earth will reveal her great bloodshed,
and uncover the slaughtered within.

This poem was a finalist in the August 2024 poetry contest