Isaiah 26:21

• Other people may not know about secret murders. But God knows (see Genesis 4:10).

Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah. But the ‘New Jerusalem’ is God’s future, perfect home for his people.
dew ~ tears of water that appear on the ground by night.
dew ~ tears of water that appear on the ground by night.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

The Little *Apocalypse

Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 26

v1 In that day [people] will sing this song in the country called Judah.

We have a strong city. [The *LORD] made inner and outer walls to make us safe.

v2 Open the gates so that the good people can enter in. [The good people] are those that continue to trust [the *LORD].

v3 You, [*LORD], will keep in *peace the [person that has a] steady mind. [You keep him] in *peace because he trusts in you.

v4 Always, always trust in the *LORD! [Do that] because the *LORD, the *LORD is a Rock. (That is, he provides security.) He will always be [strong].

v5 [Do that for this reason.] He makes humble the people that live in high places. [They live] in a city on high [hills]. [But] he makes it low. He makes it level with the ground. He throws it into the dust.

v6 A foot steps on it. The feet of the poor people step on it. And so do the footsteps of the weak people.

Notes

Verse 1 ‘That day’ means when an enemy will defeat the people in Moab. Read Isaiah 25:10-12 again. Isaiah does not say which enemy God will use to defeat Moab. Moab’s defeat is also a description of how God will defeat all his enemies. That will happen when the present world will end. Read the note before chapter 24 again. The strong city is Jerusalem. At the end of the world, it will be the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). In *Hebrew, the last sentence of this verse includes the word ‘jeshuah’. The word means ‘rescue’. It means when something or someone makes people safe. So here our translation has ‘make safe’ for ‘jeshuah’. But what it really means is this. ‘He makes Jeshuah the inner and outer walls.’ Jeshuah is the *Hebrew name for Jesus! It is he who can make his people safe!

Verse 2 In the song, the people ask God to open the gates of the city (Jerusalem). Then, God’s people can enter the city. Perhaps the people are coming home from where their enemy kept them. Isaiah calls them ‘good people’. Only God is really good. He is very, very good. But God calls the people that trust in him good also.

Verse 3 A steady mind here means one that does not change all the time. It is a mind that always trusts God (verse 2). In this verse, the *Hebrew word for *peace (shalom) appears twice together (shalom shalom). We could translate the verse like this. ‘You will keep the steady mind in great *peace. That is because he or she trusts in you.’ When a word appears twice together in *Hebrew, that means ‘very’ or ‘great’. It shows us that the word is important.

Verse 4 Here again, some *Hebrew words appear twice. They are ‘always’ and ‘*LORD’. Those are important words in this verse, as *peace was in verse 3. When a word appears twice in *Hebrew, the purpose is to emphasise that word. The ‘Rock’ is a word picture. It means that the *LORD defends his people. He provides their security.

Verse 5 Look again at Isaiah 25:12. There Isaiah refers to cities in Moab. Those cities were on hills. He also says what God will do to those cities. It is the same in this verse here. ‘He makes it low’ and ‘he makes it level’. Those two things (‘low’ and ‘level’) are the same word in the *Hebrew Bible. It is another example of a word that appears twice together to make it important. The people are humble because God will destroy their city.

Verse 6 The people in the city were cruel to the poor people. And [they were cruel] to the weak people. Perhaps the feet belonged to the poor people that were going home to Jerusalem.

v7 The path that good people walk on is level. You, Honourable One (God), make the way of good people smooth.

v8 Yes, *LORD, we wait for you. [We wait] on the path that your laws [direct us to]. Our hearts desire [that everybody should know] your name and your fame.

v9 My heart wants you during the night and my spirit desires you in the morning. The world’s people will learn the meaning of ‘very, very good’ when [they see] your laws in that country.

v10 If nobody punishes wicked people, they will not learn anything. [They will not learn] what ‘very good’ means. In a country where people are honest, [wicked people] will continue to do bad things. They do not obey the *LORD’s laws.

v11 *LORD, you have lifted up your hand, but they do not see it. [However, one day] they will see that you really love your people. I pray that then they will become ashamed. I pray that fire will burn up your enemies.

Notes

Verse 7 ‘Honourable One’ is another name for God. In other words, he does everything rightly and fairly. ‘Level’ and ‘smooth’ do not mean ‘easy’. They mean that God leads his people. He does that even when there is much trouble. He gives help to his people. Here and in verse 8, ‘the path’ probably means the road home. It would be the road from the place where the enemy kept the people. For us, it means the way that we live during our lives.

Verse 8 We read about the path ‘that your laws [direct us to]’. Bible students are not sure which among these two things it means:

• We obey the *LORD.

• We wait for him to punish us.

It means the first of these if we are loyal to God. But it must mean the second answer if we refuse to obey him.

‘Our hearts’ means ‘what we really are inside ourselves’. It is a translation of the *Hebrew word ‘nephesh’, which means ‘spirit’ or ‘the real person’. Sometimes today we talk about ‘the real me’. We want people to know these things:

• God’s name, that is, who he really is.

• God’s fame, that is, what he has done in the world.

Verse 9 ‘My heart wants you’ and ‘my spirit desires you’. Those statements probably mean this. ‘I want to see that you are doing something’. Bible students are not sure whether ‘in the morning’ is the right translation. It may mean ‘inside me’. ‘The country’ may mean Judah, or it may mean other countries. Read the note before chapter 24 again.

Verse 10 The *Hebrew words for ‘do not obey the *LORD’s laws’ mean ‘will not see the *LORD’s majesty’. ‘Majesty’ is the quality that a king has. It describes his greatness and his honour as well as his laws.

Verse 11 ‘Lifted up your hand’ probably means that God intends to punish the wicked people.

v12 *LORD, you have made *peace for us. Really, everything that we have achieved, you have done for us.

v13 *LORD, our God, other *lords than you have ruled over us. But we gave honour only to your name.

v14 Now [the other *lords] are dead. They are not alive. Their spirits have gone and they will not rise up [again]. You punished them and you destroyed them. You have taken away all [our] memory of them.

v15 *LORD, you have made the nation larger. You [really] have made the nation larger. You have gained honour for yourself. You have made all the borders of the country bigger.

v16 *LORD, they came to you when they had trouble. They whispered a prayer to you when you punished them.

v17 *LORD, when we were with you, we were like a *pregnant woman. We were like a woman just before she has her baby. We could not keep still because of the pain.

v18 We were expecting a baby. We could not keep still and we cried with the pain. But we only gave birth to wind! We have not brought safety to the Earth. We have not given birth to people in the world.

v19 But your dead [people] will live [again]. Their bodies will rise [from the grave]. Wake up! Shout because you are so happy. [Shout], you [people] that live in the dust! Because your *dew is like the *dew of the morning. The earth will give birth to the dead [people] in it.

Notes

Verse 12 This is the *peace that Isaiah mentions in verse 3. It is really God who has done everything. The people themselves have not really done it. God has defeated their enemy. God has brought them home to Jerusalem. We do not know which enemy that was. Perhaps it had been Egypt or Philistia in the past. Perhaps it was Assyria in the period when Isaiah was alive.

Verse 13 ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God, and ‘lord’ means master or ruler. They are not the same word in the *Hebrew language. Isaiah does not say who the other lords were. God’s name means everything that he is. It means his power and authority. Not all the *Jews gave honour to God, but a few *Jews always did. The *Jews were God’s people, who lived in Israel and Judah.

Verse 14 ‘Rise up [again]’ here means ‘come back [again]’. The *Hebrew word for ‘punished’ means ‘visited’. When God visits people, he always does something to them. He may do something good for them. That is, he blesses them. But if people are wicked, God visits them in order to stop their evil behaviour. That is, he punishes them. Here God came to act against bad people. Nobody remembers them now. When the *Jews left Egypt, Egypt had a king. But we do not even know his name!

Verse 15 ‘The nation’ probably means the country called Assyria. That is for these reasons:

• Isaiah usually called Israel and Judah ‘the country’.

• Assyria did get bigger, but Judah and Israel did not.

Because he made Assyria more important, God gained *glory for himself! He made the country called Assyria bigger. The statement ‘you have made the nation larger’ is two words in *Hebrew. And that statement appears twice together. Look at the note about verse 3. It explains about when *Hebrew words appear twice in a verse.

But perhaps this passage really is about Israel and Judah. The Book of Isaiah describes many events that are still in the future. And it contains many passages to comfort the *Jews. God still cares about his own people. And when God makes their country larger, he will gain *glory for himself!

Verse 16 ‘They’ here probably means ‘the *Jews’. In some Bible students’ opinion, perhaps it means the time when the Judges ruled Israel and Judah. When God’s people prayed to him, he sent leaders called ‘judges’ to help them. (See the Book of Judges.) But other Bible students are not sure what this verse refers to.

Verses 17-18 Here is a description of a woman that was pregnant. ‘Pregnant’ means that she was expecting a baby. She was feeling a lot of pain. The people in Israel and Judah (the *Jews) were like that. But when the baby came, it was only wind! The note about verse 14 explains how God visited his people. When he visited them, they realised two things:

• They had not given help to the people in the world.

• They had not given birth to new people of God there.

New people of God may mean people that love God. Because they love him, they also serve him. The last sentence of verse 18 may mean that the *Jews did not teach those other people to love God. And they did not teach them to serve God. Many Bible students are not sure what these verses really mean.

Verse 19 Here Isaiah encourages his people, the *Jews. Perhaps they did fail. Perhaps they did not help the people in the world. And perhaps they did not lead those people to the one real God. However, there is a future for God’s people. But this verse has these two possible meanings. Bible students are not sure which one is correct:

• Each person will rise from death.

• The country that consists of Israel and Judah will ‘rise from death’. Here, that means ‘come back from *exile’.

The exile was when the *Jews were in Assyria and Babylon. But also, each person will rise from death when Jesus returns to the Earth. That is the future meaning, which is part of the *apocalypse. There is a note about ‘apocalypse’ before the start of chapter 24. ‘Dew’ is water that comes from the air. It comes onto the ground at night. It is not the same as rain.

v20 My people, go into your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a short time until he (God) is not angry.

v21 Look, the *LORD is coming out of his house. He will punish the people on the Earth, because they have not obeyed him. The Earth will show [to him] the [human] blood [that people have] spilled upon it. It will not hide any longer the bodies [that people have] killed.

Notes

Verses 20-21 The words ‘go’ and ‘shut’ remind us of Noah. He went into the ark (huge ship) and God shut its door (Genesis 7:1 and Genesis 7:16). Noah was safe in the ark when God punished the Earth’s people with the great flood. Also, these verses here in Isaiah remind us of God’s people. They were safe when God punished Egypt’s people (Exodus 12:22 23). Isaiah tells God’s people to hide while God punishes their enemies (probably the armies of Assyria and Babylon).

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

Heaven ~ the home of God.
Apocalypse ~ another name for the last book in the Bible, called Revelation. The Little Apocalypse (Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27) is like Revelation. It is about the end of time.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when Isaiah wrote his book.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
lord ~ someone with authority. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God. It probably means ‘always alive’.
covenant ~ people make a covenant when they agree together. God agreed to protect his people called the Jews. They agreed to be his servants.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
peace ~ success; the defeat of enemies; freedom from war; a calm and content attitude.
lord ~ someone with authority. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God. It probably means ‘always alive’.
covenant ~ people make a covenant when they agree together. God agreed to protect his people called the Jews. They agreed to be his servants.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
pregnant ~ a woman who is going to have a baby.
dew ~ water that comes onto the ground at night. It is not the same as rain.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
glory ~ great honour and magnificent beauty.
exile ~ a place away from home.
Apocalypse ~ another name for the last book in the Bible, called Revelation. The Little Apocalypse (Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27) is like Revelation. It is about the end of time.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

The Little *Apocalypse

Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 26

v1 In that day [people] will sing this song in the country called Judah.

We have a strong city. [The *LORD] made inner and outer walls to make us safe.

v2 Open the gates so that the good people can enter in. [The good people] are those that continue to trust [the *LORD].

v3 You, [*LORD], will keep in *peace the [person that has a] steady mind. [You keep him] in *peace because he trusts in you.

v4 Always, always trust in the *LORD! [Do that] because the *LORD, the *LORD is a Rock. (That is, he provides security.) He will always be [strong].

v5 [Do that for this reason.] He makes humble the people that live in high places. [They live] in a city on high [hills]. [But] he makes it low. He makes it level with the ground. He throws it into the dust.

v6 A foot steps on it. The feet of the poor people step on it. And so do the footsteps of the weak people.

Notes

Verse 1 ‘That day’ means when an enemy will defeat the people in Moab. Read Isaiah 25:10-12 again. Isaiah does not say which enemy God will use to defeat Moab. Moab’s defeat is also a description of how God will defeat all his enemies. That will happen when the present world will end. Read the note before chapter 24 again. The strong city is Jerusalem. At the end of the world, it will be the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). In *Hebrew, the last sentence of this verse includes the word ‘jeshuah’. The word means ‘rescue’. It means when something or someone makes people safe. So here our translation has ‘make safe’ for ‘jeshuah’. But what it really means is this. ‘He makes Jeshuah the inner and outer walls.’ Jeshuah is the *Hebrew name for Jesus! It is he who can make his people safe!

Verse 2 In the song, the people ask God to open the gates of the city (Jerusalem). Then, God’s people can enter the city. Perhaps the people are coming home from where their enemy kept them. Isaiah calls them ‘good people’. Only God is really good. He is very, very good. But God calls the people that trust in him good also.

Verse 3 A steady mind here means one that does not change all the time. It is a mind that always trusts God (verse 2). In this verse, the *Hebrew word for *peace (shalom) appears twice together (shalom shalom). We could translate the verse like this. ‘You will keep the steady mind in great *peace. That is because he or she trusts in you.’ When a word appears twice together in *Hebrew, that means ‘very’ or ‘great’. It shows us that the word is important.

Verse 4 Here again, some *Hebrew words appear twice. They are ‘always’ and ‘*LORD’. Those are important words in this verse, as *peace was in verse 3. When a word appears twice in *Hebrew, the purpose is to emphasise that word. The ‘Rock’ is a word picture. It means that the *LORD defends his people. He provides their security.

Verse 5 Look again at Isaiah 25:12. There Isaiah refers to cities in Moab. Those cities were on hills. He also says what God will do to those cities. It is the same in this verse here. ‘He makes it low’ and ‘he makes it level’. Those two things (‘low’ and ‘level’) are the same word in the *Hebrew Bible. It is another example of a word that appears twice together to make it important. The people are humble because God will destroy their city.

Verse 6 The people in the city were cruel to the poor people. And [they were cruel] to the weak people. Perhaps the feet belonged to the poor people that were going home to Jerusalem.

v7 The path that good people walk on is level. You, Honourable One (God), make the way of good people smooth.

v8 Yes, *LORD, we wait for you. [We wait] on the path that your laws [direct us to]. Our hearts desire [that everybody should know] your name and your fame.

v9 My heart wants you during the night and my spirit desires you in the morning. The world’s people will learn the meaning of ‘very, very good’ when [they see] your laws in that country.

v10 If nobody punishes wicked people, they will not learn anything. [They will not learn] what ‘very good’ means. In a country where people are honest, [wicked people] will continue to do bad things. They do not obey the *LORD’s laws.

v11 *LORD, you have lifted up your hand, but they do not see it. [However, one day] they will see that you really love your people. I pray that then they will become ashamed. I pray that fire will burn up your enemies.

Notes

Verse 7 ‘Honourable One’ is another name for God. In other words, he does everything rightly and fairly. ‘Level’ and ‘smooth’ do not mean ‘easy’. They mean that God leads his people. He does that even when there is much trouble. He gives help to his people. Here and in verse 8, ‘the path’ probably means the road home. It would be the road from the place where the enemy kept the people. For us, it means the way that we live during our lives.

Verse 8 We read about the path ‘that your laws [direct us to]’. Bible students are not sure which among these two things it means:

• We obey the *LORD.

• We wait for him to punish us.

It means the first of these if we are loyal to God. But it must mean the second answer if we refuse to obey him.

‘Our hearts’ means ‘what we really are inside ourselves’. It is a translation of the *Hebrew word ‘nephesh’, which means ‘spirit’ or ‘the real person’. Sometimes today we talk about ‘the real me’. We want people to know these things:

• God’s name, that is, who he really is.

• God’s fame, that is, what he has done in the world.

Verse 9 ‘My heart wants you’ and ‘my spirit desires you’. Those statements probably mean this. ‘I want to see that you are doing something’. Bible students are not sure whether ‘in the morning’ is the right translation. It may mean ‘inside me’. ‘The country’ may mean Judah, or it may mean other countries. Read the note before chapter 24 again.

Verse 10 The *Hebrew words for ‘do not obey the *LORD’s laws’ mean ‘will not see the *LORD’s majesty’. ‘Majesty’ is the quality that a king has. It describes his greatness and his honour as well as his laws.

Verse 11 ‘Lifted up your hand’ probably means that God intends to punish the wicked people.

v12 *LORD, you have made *peace for us. Really, everything that we have achieved, you have done for us.

v13 *LORD, our God, other *lords than you have ruled over us. But we gave honour only to your name.

v14 Now [the other *lords] are dead. They are not alive. Their spirits have gone and they will not rise up [again]. You punished them and you destroyed them. You have taken away all [our] memory of them.

v15 *LORD, you have made the nation larger. You [really] have made the nation larger. You have gained honour for yourself. You have made all the borders of the country bigger.

v16 *LORD, they came to you when they had trouble. They whispered a prayer to you when you punished them.

v17 *LORD, when we were with you, we were like a *pregnant woman. We were like a woman just before she has her baby. We could not keep still because of the pain.

v18 We were expecting a baby. We could not keep still and we cried with the pain. But we only gave birth to wind! We have not brought safety to the Earth. We have not given birth to people in the world.

v19 But your dead [people] will live [again]. Their bodies will rise [from the grave]. Wake up! Shout because you are so happy. [Shout], you [people] that live in the dust! Because your *dew is like the *dew of the morning. The earth will give birth to the dead [people] in it.

Notes

Verse 12 This is the *peace that Isaiah mentions in verse 3. It is really God who has done everything. The people themselves have not really done it. God has defeated their enemy. God has brought them home to Jerusalem. We do not know which enemy that was. Perhaps it had been Egypt or Philistia in the past. Perhaps it was Assyria in the period when Isaiah was alive.

Verse 13 ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God, and ‘lord’ means master or ruler. They are not the same word in the *Hebrew language. Isaiah does not say who the other lords were. God’s name means everything that he is. It means his power and authority. Not all the *Jews gave honour to God, but a few *Jews always did. The *Jews were God’s people, who lived in Israel and Judah.

Verse 14 ‘Rise up [again]’ here means ‘come back [again]’. The *Hebrew word for ‘punished’ means ‘visited’. When God visits people, he always does something to them. He may do something good for them. That is, he blesses them. But if people are wicked, God visits them in order to stop their evil behaviour. That is, he punishes them. Here God came to act against bad people. Nobody remembers them now. When the *Jews left Egypt, Egypt had a king. But we do not even know his name!

Verse 15 ‘The nation’ probably means the country called Assyria. That is for these reasons:

• Isaiah usually called Israel and Judah ‘the country’.

• Assyria did get bigger, but Judah and Israel did not.

Because he made Assyria more important, God gained *glory for himself! He made the country called Assyria bigger. The statement ‘you have made the nation larger’ is two words in *Hebrew. And that statement appears twice together. Look at the note about verse 3. It explains about when *Hebrew words appear twice in a verse.

But perhaps this passage really is about Israel and Judah. The Book of Isaiah describes many events that are still in the future. And it contains many passages to comfort the *Jews. God still cares about his own people. And when God makes their country larger, he will gain *glory for himself!

Verse 16 ‘They’ here probably means ‘the *Jews’. In some Bible students’ opinion, perhaps it means the time when the Judges ruled Israel and Judah. When God’s people prayed to him, he sent leaders called ‘judges’ to help them. (See the Book of Judges.) But other Bible students are not sure what this verse refers to.

Verses 17-18 Here is a description of a woman that was pregnant. ‘Pregnant’ means that she was expecting a baby. She was feeling a lot of pain. The people in Israel and Judah (the *Jews) were like that. But when the baby came, it was only wind! The note about verse 14 explains how God visited his people. When he visited them, they realised two things:

• They had not given help to the people in the world.

• They had not given birth to new people of God there.

New people of God may mean people that love God. Because they love him, they also serve him. The last sentence of verse 18 may mean that the *Jews did not teach those other people to love God. And they did not teach them to serve God. Many Bible students are not sure what these verses really mean.

Verse 19 Here Isaiah encourages his people, the *Jews. Perhaps they did fail. Perhaps they did not help the people in the world. And perhaps they did not lead those people to the one real God. However, there is a future for God’s people. But this verse has these two possible meanings. Bible students are not sure which one is correct:

• Each person will rise from death.

• The country that consists of Israel and Judah will ‘rise from death’. Here, that means ‘come back from *exile’.

The exile was when the *Jews were in Assyria and Babylon. But also, each person will rise from death when Jesus returns to the Earth. That is the future meaning, which is part of the *apocalypse. There is a note about ‘apocalypse’ before the start of chapter 24. ‘Dew’ is water that comes from the air. It comes onto the ground at night. It is not the same as rain.

v20 My people, go into your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a short time until he (God) is not angry.

v21 Look, the *LORD is coming out of his house. He will punish the people on the Earth, because they have not obeyed him. The Earth will show [to him] the [human] blood [that people have] spilled upon it. It will not hide any longer the bodies [that people have] killed.

Notes

Verses 20-21 The words ‘go’ and ‘shut’ remind us of Noah. He went into the ark (huge ship) and God shut its door (Genesis 7:1 and Genesis 7:16). Noah was safe in the ark when God punished the Earth’s people with the great flood. Also, these verses here in Isaiah remind us of God’s people. They were safe when God punished Egypt’s people (Exodus 12:22 23). Isaiah tells God’s people to hide while God punishes their enemies (probably the armies of Assyria and Babylon).

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

Heaven ~ the home of God.
Apocalypse ~ another name for the last book in the Bible, called Revelation. The Little Apocalypse (Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27) is like Revelation. It is about the end of time.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when Isaiah wrote his book.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
lord ~ someone with authority. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God. It probably means ‘always alive’.
covenant ~ people make a covenant when they agree together. God agreed to protect his people called the Jews. They agreed to be his servants.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
peace ~ success; the defeat of enemies; freedom from war; a calm and content attitude.
lord ~ someone with authority. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God. It probably means ‘always alive’.
covenant ~ people make a covenant when they agree together. God agreed to protect his people called the Jews. They agreed to be his servants.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
pregnant ~ a woman who is going to have a baby.
dew ~ water that comes onto the ground at night. It is not the same as rain.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
glory ~ great honour and magnificent beauty.
exile ~ a place away from home.
Apocalypse ~ another name for the last book in the Bible, called Revelation. The Little Apocalypse (Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27) is like Revelation. It is about the end of time.