Back to Isaiah 26

Isaiah 26:12-19

Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.

Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name.

The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before you, Yahweh.

We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.

    Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name.

    The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

    You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

    Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

    Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before you, Yahweh.

    We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

    Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.

  • KJV King James Version

    LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

    O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

    They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

    Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

    LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

    Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

    We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

    Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    LORD, Thou wilt establish peace for us; for Thou hast indeed wrought all our works for us.

    O LORD our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us; but by Thee only do we make mention of Thy name.

    The dead live not, the shades rise not; to that end hast Thou punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

    Thou hast gotten Thee honour with the nations, O LORD, yea, exceeding great honour with the nations; Thou art honoured unto the farthest ends of the earth.

    LORD, in trouble have they sought Thee, silently they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them.

    Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been at Thy presence, O LORD.

    We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the land; neither are the inhabitants of the world come to life.

    Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise — awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust — for Thy dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life the shades.

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Contradictions (1)

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  • Is death final?

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Cross-references (136)

  • Daniel 12:2 (v19) Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
  • Ezekiel 37:1-14 (v19) Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in Yahweh’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.…
  • Matthew 27:52 (v19) The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
  • Ephesians 5:14 (v19) Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
  • Hosea 13:14 (v19) I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?…
Show all 100 cross-references
  • Psalms 71:20 (v19) You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
  • Ephesians 2:10 (v12) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
  • Revelation 20:12-13 (v19) I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of…
  • Hosea 6:2 (v19) After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.
  • Psalms 57:2 (v12) I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
  • Isaiah 25:8 (v19) He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away…
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 (v19) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we tell…
  • John 5:28-29 (v19) Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done…
  • Philippians 3:21 (v19) who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to…
  • John 11:25-26 (v19) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes…
  • Psalms 29:11 (v12) Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
  • Isaiah 60:1-2 (v19) “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you. For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness…
  • 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 (v19) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are…
  • Revelation 20:5-6 (v19) The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has…
  • Hosea 5:15 (v16) I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
  • Zechariah 8:12 (v19) “For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I…
  • Psalms 17:14 (v18) from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons…
  • Proverbs 10:7 (v14) The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
  • Isaiah 9:3 (v15) You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when…
  • Ezekiel 20:14 (v12) But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
  • Hosea 13:13 (v18) The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:20 (v19) But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
  • Revelation 18:2-3 (v14) He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every…
  • Isaiah 37:3 (vv16, 18) They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and…
  • 2 Kings 19:3 (v18) They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of…
  • Psalms 106:28 (v14) They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
  • Isaiah 8:19 (v14) When they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,” shouldn’t a people…
  • Isaiah 13:8 (v17) They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at…
  • Isaiah 14:19-22 (v14) But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down…
  • Isaiah 21:3 (v17) Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t…
  • Isaiah 51:12-13 (v14) “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?…
  • Isaiah 59:4 (v18) No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to…
  • Hosea 14:5 (v19) I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.
  • Habakkuk 2:18-20 (v14) “What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions…
  • John 16:21 (v17) A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish…
  • Revelation 11:8-11 (v19) Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was…
  • Genesis 12:2 (v15) I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
  • Genesis 13:16 (v15) I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be…
  • Exodus 14:30 (v14) Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
  • Numbers 23:10 (v15) Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
  • Deuteronomy 4:28 (v14) There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
  • Deuteronomy 10:22 (v15) Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.
  • Deuteronomy 30:6 (v12) Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your…
  • Deuteronomy 33:28 (v19) Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.
  • Nehemiah 9:23 (v15) You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that…
  • Psalms 9:6 (v14) The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
  • Psalms 22:15 (v19) My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
  • Psalms 50:15 (v16) Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
  • Psalms 109:13 (v14) Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
  • Isaiah 2:8 (v13) Their land also is full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
  • Isaiah 10:3 (v14) What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you…
  • Isaiah 33:11 (v18) You will conceive chaff. You will give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you.
  • Isaiah 33:17 (v15) Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.
  • Isaiah 44:23 (v15) Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of…
  • Isaiah 52:1-2 (v19) Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on the uncircumcised and…
  • Isaiah 54:2-3 (v15) “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare: lengthen your cords, and…
  • Isaiah 60:21 (v15) Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be…
  • Isaiah 63:7 (v13) I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has given to us, and the great…
  • Jeremiah 4:31 (v17) For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who gives birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of…
  • Jeremiah 30:19 (v15) Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also…
  • Jeremiah 32:37 (v15) “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I…
  • Jeremiah 33:6 (v12) ‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
  • Ezekiel 5:12 (v15) A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword…
  • Ezekiel 36:24 (v15) “ ‘ “For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
  • Matthew 2:20 (v14) “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
  • John 12:23-28 (v15) Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into…
  • John 13:31-32 (v15) When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in…
  • John 15:8 (v15) “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
  • John 17:1 (v15) Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also…
  • Philippians 3:10 (v19) that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death,
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (v17) For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they…
  • Hebrews 13:20 (v12) Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord…
  • Revelation 11:15-18 (v15) The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and…
  • Revelation 20:5 (v14) The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
  • Deuteronomy 4:29-30 (v16) But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.…
  • Deuteronomy 28:64 (v15) Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which…
  • Deuteronomy 32:26-27 (v15) I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; were it not that I feared the provocation of the…
  • Deuteronomy 33:13 (v19) About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches…
  • Joshua 23:7 (v13) that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by…
  • Judges 10:9-10 (v16) The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that…
  • 1 Samuel 1:15 (v16) Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul…
  • 1 Kings 8:46 (v15) If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they…
  • 2 Kings 17:6 (v15) In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the…
  • 2 Kings 17:23 (v15) until Yahweh removed Israel out of his sight, as he said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land…
  • 2 Kings 23:27 (v15) Yahweh said, “I will also remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even…
  • 2 Chronicles 6:37-38 (v16) yet if they come to their senses in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of…
  • 2 Chronicles 12:8 (v13) Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
  • 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (v16) When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
  • Psalms 42:4 (v16) These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of…
  • Psalms 48:6 (v17) Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.
  • Psalms 77:1-2 (v16) My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was…
  • Psalms 86:9-10 (v15) All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name. For you are great, and do wondrous things.…
  • Psalms 91:15 (v16) He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
  • Psalms 142:2 (v16) I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
  • Isaiah 6:12 (v15) and Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.

100 distinct cross-references across this passage (136 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (21 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13–19 The Babylonians, which have not governed according to thy…

The Babylonians, which have not governed according to thy word.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Isa 26:12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us:…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Thou wilt ordain peace for us; as thou wilt…
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v12 The prophet in these verses looks back upon what…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us,.... Dispose, order,…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Our works - All the good works done by…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19 Verse 16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 15, 16, 19 Isa 26:12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Thou wilt ordain peace - The word ‘peace’ here…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 Works, both in punishing and rewarding. (Calmet) --- God…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12–19 peace--God's favor, including all blessings, temporal and spiritual, opposed…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19 12. Peace for us — “Peace,” here, is comprehensive.…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–19 12. thou wilt ordain] or “mayest thou ordain.” peace…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–19 (12) Thou also hast wrought all our work in…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12–19 Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; i.e. henceforth…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 15, 16, 19 Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v14 Isa_26:14-19; Isa_25:6-9
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 16, 19 (A Thanksgiving Sermon.)
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v19 thy dead men
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15, 16, 18, 19 but we praise your name alone
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–19 26:15 This verse is a confident expression of thanks…
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