Isaiah 26:16 (YLT)

Passage

O Jehovah, in distress they missed Thee, They have poured out a whisper, Thy chastisement <FI>is<Fi> on them.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 26:14 Dead--they live not, Rephaim, they rise not, Therefore Thou hast inspected and dost destroy them, Yea, thou destroyest all their memory.

Isaiah 26:15 Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, Thou hast added to the nation, Thou hast been honoured, Thou hast put far off all the ends of earth.

Isaiah 26:16 O Jehovah, in distress they missed Thee, They have poured out a whisper, Thy chastisement <FI>is<Fi> on them.

Isaiah 26:17 When a pregnant woman cometh near to the birth, She is pained--she crieth in her pangs, So we have been from Thy face, O Jehovah.

Isaiah 26:18 We have conceived, we have been pained. We have brought forth as it were wind, Salvation we do not work in the earth, Nor do the inhabitants of the world fall.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "distress", "missed", "thee", "poured", "whisper", and "chastisement". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "distress", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Thou hast added to the nation O..." into verse 17's "When a pregnant woman cometh near to...", so "jehovah" and "distress" 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 "jehovah" and "distress" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.