Isaiah 26:18 (WEB)

Passage

We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 26:16 Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

Isaiah 26:17 Just 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, Yahweh.

Isaiah 26:18 We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live. My 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.

Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "been", "child", "pain", "gave", "birth", "seems", and "only". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "been", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Just as a woman with child who..." into verse 19's "Your dead shall live My dead bodies...", so "world" and "been" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "world" and "been" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.