| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. | 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 the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. | 2Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter--one that remains trustworthy. |
| 3You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. | 3You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you. |
| 4Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. | 4Trust in the LORD from this time forward, even in Yah, the LORD, an enduring protector! |
| 5For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it 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. |
| 6The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.” | 6It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor." |
| 7The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. | 7The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you make is straight. |
| 8In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. | 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 earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world 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, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see 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. |
| 11O LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries 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. |
| 12O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. | 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 your name alone we bring to remembrance. | 13O LORD, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone. |
| 14They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance 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. |
| 15But you have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged 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. |
| 16O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. | 16O LORD, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline. |
| 17Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O 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, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. | 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. |
| 19Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, 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 chambers, 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 behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover 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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