First ReadingIsaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
From the Book of Isaiah
7The way of the just is uprightness.You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Lord, we have waited for you.Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.9With my soul I have desired you in the night.Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly;for when your judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. verses 10–11 are not read12Lord, you will ordain peace for us,for you have also done all our work for us. verses 13–15 are not read16Lord, in trouble they have visited you.They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.17Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery,is in pain and cries out in her pangs,so we have been before you, Lord.18We have been with child.We have been in pain.We gave birth, it seems, only to wind.We have not worked any deliverance on the earth;neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.19Your dead shall live.Their dead bodies shall arise.Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust;for your dew is like the dew of herbs,and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.