Isaiah 26:9-11

26:9 I ¹  look for ²  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. ³ 

26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,

they do not learn about justice. ⁴ 

Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; ⁵ 

they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ⁶ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ⁷ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ⁸ 

[26:9]  ¹ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

[26:9]  ² tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

[26:9]  ³ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

[26:10]  ⁴ tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”

[26:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”

[26:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”