English Standard Version ESV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 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.
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On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets up victory like walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
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Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
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Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace— in peace because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
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Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock.
5 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.
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For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust.
6 The foot tramples 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 path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.
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The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.
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In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul's desire.
9 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.
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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 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.
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If favor is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and do not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 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.
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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 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.
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O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
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O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but we acknowledge your name alone.
14 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.
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The dead do not live; shades do not rise— because you have punished and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them.
15 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.
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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 O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.
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O Lord, in distress they sought you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.
17 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;
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Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time, so were we because of you, O Lord;
18 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.
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we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and no one is born to inhabit the world.
19 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.
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Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.
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Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past.
21 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.
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For the Lord comes out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no longer cover its slain.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.