Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: Ours is a strong city! God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
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In 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.
2 Open the gates and let a righteous nation enter, a nation that keeps faith.
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Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 Those with sound thoughts you will keep in peace, in peace because they trust in you.
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You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD is a rock for all ages.
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Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
5 He has thrown down those living on high, and he will level the lofty town, leveling it down to the earth; he will bring it down to dust.
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For 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.
6 The feet trample it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
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The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. ”
7 The way of the righteous is level; you clear a path for the righteous.
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The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.
8 In the path of your justice, LORD, we wait for you; with all our being, we long for your name and your acclaim.
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In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.
9 At night I long for you with my whole being; my spirit within me watches for you. When your judgments are at work in the earth, those living in the world learn righteousness.
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My 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.
10 When the wicked are favored, they don't learn righteousness; even among those who do right they do wrong, and they fail to see the LORD's majesty.
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If 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.
11 LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they don't see. Let them see and shrink back because of your zeal for your people; your burning anger that consumes your enemies.
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O 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.
12 LORD, grant us peace, because all that we have done has been your doing.
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O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 LORD our God, other masters besides you have ruled us, but we will profess your name alone.
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O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
14 The dead don't live; ghosts don't rise. Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them, and abolished all memory of them.
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They 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.
15 You've enlarged the nation, LORD. You've enlarged the nation; you are glorified. You've expanded all the land's boundaries.
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But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 LORD, in distress they sought you out; they poured out prayers to you when you disciplined them.
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O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.
17 As a pregnant woman close to childbirth is in labor pains, crying out in her pangs, so were we because of you, LORD.
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Like 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;
18 We were pregnant, we writhed, but we gave birth to wind. We have achieved no victories on earth; the inhabitants of the earth never fall.
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we 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.
19 Your dead will live, their corpses will rise, and those who dwell in the dust will shout for joy. Your shadow is a shadow of light, but you will bring down the ghosts into the underworld.
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Your 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.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Take cover, for in a little while the fury will be over.
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Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.
21 Look! The LORD is going out from his place to bring the iniquity of the ruler of the earth down upon him. The earth will uncover its blood and will conceal its slain no longer.
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For 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.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025