A Song of Salvation 1 UDB People in Judah will sing this song: "Our city of Jerusalem is strong! Yahweh protects our city; He is like a wall that surrounds it. BSB BSB: In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.
2 UDB Open the gates of the city for people who are righteous; allow people who faithfully obey Yahweh to enter the city. BSB BSB: Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.
3 UDB Yahweh, those who trust in you, those who are determined to never doubt you— you will enable them to be perfectly peaceful in their inner beings. BSB BSB: You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
4 UDB So always trust in Yahweh because he is forever like a huge rock on top of which we will be safe. BSB BSB: Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
5 UDB He humbles proud people and destroys cities whose people are arrogant. He causes those cities to collapse into the dust. BSB BSB: For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.
6 UDB When that happens, poor and oppressed people will trample on the ruins. BSB BSB: Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.
7 UDB But for the righteous people, Yahweh, you do what is right; it is as though you smooth out the paths where they walk. BSB BSB: The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.
8 UDB Yahweh, by obeying your laws we show that we trust you to help us; and what we desire in our inner beings is that you will be honored. BSB BSB: Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
9 UDB All during the nights I desire to know you better, and in the mornings I still want to be with you. When you come to judge and punish people who live on the earth they will learn to do what is right. BSB BSB: My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 UDB But your acting kindly toward wicked people does not cause them to do what is good. Even in places where people do what is right, the wicked people continue to do what is evil, and they do not realize that you, Yahweh, are great. BSB BSB: Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
11 UDB Yahweh, it is as though your fist was raised up ready to strike them, but they do not realize that. Show them that you are very eager to help your people. If your enemies would realize that, they would be ashamed; make your fire burn them up because they are your enemies. BSB BSB: O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!
12 UDB Yahweh, we desire that you will allow things to go well for us; all that we have done is what you have enabled us to do. BSB BSB: O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.
13 UDB Yahweh our God, other masters have ruled over us, but you are the only one whom we honor. BSB BSB: O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.
14 UDB Those who ruled us are now gone; they are dead; their spirits have left this earth and they will never live again. You punished those rulers and got rid of them, and people do not even remember them anymore. BSB BSB: The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.
15 UDB Yahweh, you have enabled our nation to become great; we are more people now, and we have more land, so we thank you. BSB BSB: You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 UDB Yahweh, when we were distressed, we asked you to help us; when you disciplined us, we could barely speak out any prayer to you. BSB BSB: O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
17 UDB Like pregnant women who writhe and cry out when they are giving birth, we also suffered very much. BSB BSB: As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
18 UDB We were pregnant and had severe pain, but nothing good resulted from it. We have not rescued any people or kept their enemies from conquering them, and those in the world who were our enemies did not fall in battle. BSB BSB: We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.
19 UDB But Yahweh's people who have died will become alive again; their corpses will become alive! You whose bodies lie in graves, rise and shout joyfully! His light will be like dew that falls on you, his people who have died, you who are now in the place where the dead people are; he will cause you to live again. BSB BSB: Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
20 UDB But now, my fellow Israelites, go home and lock your doors! Hide for a short time, until Yahweh is no longer angry. BSB BSB: Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
21 UDB Listen to this: Yahweh will come from heaven to punish all the people on the earth for the sins that they have committed. People will be able to see the blood of those who have been murdered; everyone will at last know all the crimes of murder that have been committed." BSB BSB: For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.