Isaías 26

VBL · Chapter 26/66

1En ese momento, este será el canto que se entone en la tierra de Judá: “¡Nuestra ciudad es una ciudad fuerte! ¡Sus muros y defensas son nuestra salvación!

2Abre las puertas para que entre la nación que sigue la justicia, la nación que permanece fiel.

3Mantendrás en completa paz a los que mantienen su mente centrada en ti, porque confían en ti.

4Confía en el Señor para siempre, porque el Señor Dios es la Roca eterna.

5Él derriba a los poderosos que viven con altivez; derriba la ciudad orgullosa con sus altos muros, haciéndola caer al suelo, hasta el polvo.

6Los pobres la pisan; los oprimidos caminan sobre ella”.

7Tú, Dios, haces lo que es justo, y enderezas el camino de los que viven rectamente; allanas su senda.

8Sí, seguimos tus instrucciones, Señor, ponemos nuestra esperanza en ti. Lo que más deseamos es acordarnos de ti y de tu maravilloso nombre.

9Te busco en la noche y en mi interior te anhelo. Cuando tus leyes se muestran en la tierra, entonces los pueblos del mundo aprenden lo que es justo.

10Aunque se muestre la gracia a los malvados, no aprenderán a hacer lo correcto. Incluso en un país donde la gente hace lo que es correcto, siguen haciendo el mal y no se olvidan de la grandeza del Señor.

11Señor, tú tienes la mano levantada, pero ellos no lo ven. Que vean tu apasionado compromiso por tu pueblo y se avergüencen; ¡que el fuego reservado para tus enemigos los destruya!

12Señor, tú nos das la paz y la prosperidad; todo lo que hemos conseguido tú lo has hecho por nosotros.

13Señor, Dios nuestro, ha habido otros señores además de ti que nos han gobernado, pero tú eres el único al que adoramos.

14Están muertos, no volverán a vivir; no se levantarán de la tumba. Señor, tú los castigaste y los destruiste, incluso borrando todo recuerdo de ellos.

15Tú has hecho crecer a la nación, Señor, tú has hecho crecer a la nación. Has ampliado nuestras fronteras de la tierra, y te hemos honrado.

16Señor, cuando sufrimos acudimos a ti, derramando nuestras oraciones como susurros mientras nos disciplinabas.

17Al igual que una mujer embarazada que da a luz se revuelve y grita de dolor, así éramos nosotros en tu presencia, Señor.

18Sin embargo, aunque quedamos embarazadas y nos revolcamos de dolor, no dimos a luz más que aire. No logramos la salvación de la tierra, y los pueblos del mundo no han cobrado vida.

19Pero los que murieron en ti, Señor, vivirán. Sus cuerpos resucitarán. Despiértense y canten de alegría, ustedes que duermen en el polvo, porque el rocío que reciben es como el rocío de la mañana que da vida a los que están en la tumba.

20Pueblo mío, entrad en vuestras casas y cerrad las puertas detrás de ustedes. Escóndanse allí por un tiempo hasta que pase la furia.

21¡Cuidado! El Señor viene desde donde vive para castigar a los pueblos de la tierra por sus pecados. La tierra revelará la sangre que se ha derramado en ella; la tierra ya no ocultará a los que han sido asesinados.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A song of trust sung by Judah: a strong city protected by God, where the righteous person who trusts in him has perfect peace. The chapter includes one of the clearest early references to the resurrection of the dead in the Hebrew Bible.

Explanation

This song contrasts God's 'strong city' with the arrogant 'lofty city' mentioned earlier (likely Babylon or another proud power), reinforcing that true security comes from trust in God, not from walls or political power. The phrase 'you will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is fixed on you' is one of the most quoted statements on inner peace in all of biblical wisdom literature. The declaration 'your dead will live... awake and shout for joy' is one of the oldest and most explicit expressions of resurrection hope in the entire Old Testament, a concept that would be more fully developed in Daniel and in the New Testament. The practical application today is that genuine peace is born from a mind fixed on God, not from the absence of external problems.

Fun facts

  • Verse 3 ('you will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is fixed on you') is one of the most quoted Bible texts on peace of mind and is rendered in some versions as 'perfect peace' — one of the most popular phrases on Christian cards and decorative plaques even today.
  • The statement 'your dead will live, my dead body shall arise' is considered by scholars to be one of the earliest clear expressions of hope in bodily resurrection in the entire Old Testament, predating texts like Daniel 12:2.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 26:1The image of “walls and bulwarks” describes Jerusalem protected not by its own physical defenses. The real protection, the text says, is the salvation God sets up in place of ramparts.
  2. Isaías 26:2An invitation to open the gates of the fortified city mentioned in the previous verse, so that the “righteous nation,” the one that keeps the truth, may enter — God’s secure city receives the faithful.
  3. Isaías 26:3One of the most quoted promises in the book: God keeps in perfect peace whoever has a mind fixed on Him, because that person trusts fully in God.
  4. Isaías 26:4A direct call: trust in the LORD forever, because He is described as “everlasting strength” — a foundation that will never give way, unlike any human power.
  5. Isaías 26:5God humbles those who live in high and arrogant places, bringing exalted cities down to the ground, reducing them to dust — the same pattern of humbling pride seen in earlier chapters.
  6. Isaías 26:6After being brought down, this proud city is trampled by the very feet of the afflicted and the poor — a reversal: those once oppressed now walk over their fallen oppressor.
  7. Isaías 26:7In contrast to the arrogant city, the path of the righteous is described as straight and level, because God weighs and directs the steps of those who act rightly.
  8. Isaías 26:8The people declare that they wait for God even in the midst of hard judgments, because His name and His renown are the true desire of the soul — a trust that persists even through suffering.
  9. Isaías 26:9Describes an intense, ongoing desire to seek God, night and day, explaining that when God’s judgments happen on the earth, the people of the world learn what righteousness is.
  10. Isaías 26:10But not everyone learns: even when the wicked receives favor and kindness, he goes on doing evil, failing to see the majesty of the LORD — grace alone does not change someone already determined to go wrong.
  11. Isaías 26:11Even when God’s power is clearly on display, many do not notice — but in the end they will see and be ashamed, while the fire of God’s zeal for His people consumes His enemies.
  12. Isaías 26:12An acknowledgment that every good accomplishment of the people comes from God: He is the one who has done everything they have done, including the peace they now enjoy.
  13. Isaías 26:13Acknowledges that other “lords,” foreign powers, have ruled the people in the past, but only the name of the true God is the one truly worth remembering.
  14. Isaías 26:14Speaks of these dead former oppressors: they will not live again or rise, because God visited them in judgment and completely erased their memory — a contrast with the promise of life in the next verse.
  15. Isaías 26:15Acknowledges that it was God who made this nation grow and become glorious, even though He scattered its people to the ends of the earth during the exile.
  16. Isaías 26:16A reflection on times of hardship: it was precisely in distress, when God’s discipline came upon them, that the people turned to pray in secret.
  17. Isaías 26:17The image of a pregnant woman in labor, in pain and crying out in her pangs, opens a comparison the next verse completes: an enormous effort about to end with no result at all, the people suffering as much as someone in labor, but without the relief of a birth.
  18. Isaías 26:18Using the same image of labor from the previous verse, the people lament that all that suffering did not produce real deliverance, as if they had “as it were brought forth wind” instead of a child — effort without result.
  19. Isaías 26:19The promise that the dead will live is one of the most debated verses in the book regarding what happens after death. Different traditions read this promise in very different ways, and the text by itself does not settle that debate.
  20. Isaías 26:20After the complaint, comes a call to confident waiting: let the people hide safely for a brief moment while God’s wrath passes over the earth, like someone taking shelter from a passing storm.
  21. Isaías 26:21Explains the reason for the call to hide: the LORD is coming out to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness, and the earth itself will finally expose the blood it had shed and hidden — a final settling of accounts.

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