Isaiah 25
New English Translation
25 O Lord, you are my God![a]
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.[b]
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed.[c]
2 Indeed,[d] you have made the city[e] into a heap of rubble,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners[f] is no longer a city,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of[g] powerful nations will fear you.
4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants[h] is like a winter rainstorm,[i]
5 like heat[j] in a dry land,
you humble the boasting foreigners.[k]
Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,[l]
so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.[m]
6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.[n]
At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine—
tender meat and choicest wine.[o]
7 On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples,[p]
the woven covering that is over all the nations;[q]
8 he will swallow up death permanently.[r]
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it![s]
9 At that time they will say,[t]
“Look, here[u] is our God!
We waited for him, and he delivered us.
Here[v] is the Lord! We waited for him.
Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”
10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure.[w]
Moab will be trampled down where it stands,[x]
as a heap of straw is trampled down in[y] a manure pile.
11 Moab[z] will spread out its hands in the middle of it,[aa]
just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;
the Lord[ab] will bring down Moab’s[ac] pride as it spreads its hands.[ad]
12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your[ae] walls)[af] he will knock down,
he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.[ag]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 25:1 sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.
- Isaiah 25:1 tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.
- Isaiah 25:1 tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (ʾemunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (ʾomen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (ʾaman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.
- Isaiah 25:2 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 25:2 tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (ʿir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3.
- Isaiah 25:2 tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”).
- Isaiah 25:3 tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse.
- Isaiah 25:4 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”
- Isaiah 25:4 tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.
- Isaiah 25:5 tn Or “drought” (TEV).
- Isaiah 25:5 tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.”
- Isaiah 25:5 tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.”
- Isaiah 25:5 tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (yaʿaneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (ʿanah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, yeʿaneh) would yield the same translation.
- Isaiah 25:6 sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 25:6 tn Heb “And the Lord of Heaven’s Armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”] will make for all the nations on this mountain a banquet of meats, a banquet of wine dregs, meats filled with marrow, dregs that are filtered.”
- Isaiah 25:7 tn The Hebrew text reads, “the face of the shroud, the shroud over all the nations.” Some emend the second הַלּוֹט (hallot) to a passive participle הַלּוּט (hallut, “that is wrapped”).
- Isaiah 25:7 sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8).
- Isaiah 25:8 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
- Isaiah 25:8 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
- Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”
- Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
- Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
- Isaiah 25:10 tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 25:10 tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”
- Isaiah 25:10 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bemo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bemi, “in the water of”).
- Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Isaiah 25:11 tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.
- Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Isaiah 25:11 tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (ʾarbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (ʾarav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.
- Isaiah 25:12 sn Moab is addressed.
- Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”
- Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”
Isaiah 25
Expanded Bible
A Song of Praise to God
25 Lord, you are my God.
I ·honor [exalt] you and praise ·you [L your name],
because you have done ·amazing [wonderful] things.
·You have done what you planned long ago [Your plans were made long ago];
·you have always done what you said you would do [they are faithful and trustworthy];
2 You have made the city a ·pile of rocks [L heap]
·and have destroyed her walls [L the fortified city into a ruin].
The ·city our enemies built with strong walls [or foreigners’ fortress] is gone;
it will never be built again.
3 People from powerful nations will ·honor [glorify] you;
·cruel people from strong cities [L cities of cruel/ruthless people] will fear you.
4 You ·protect [L are a refuge/stronghold to] the poor;
you protect the ·helpless [needy] when they are in ·danger [distress].
You are like a shelter from storms,
like shade that protects them from the heat.
The ·cruel people attack [L breath of the cruel/ruthless]
like a rainstorm beating against the wall,
5 like the ·heat [or drought] in the desert.
But you, God, ·stop their violent attack [L subdue/silence the uproar of foreigners].
As the shadow from a cloud cools a hot day,
you silence the songs of ·those who have no mercy [the ruthless].
God’s Banquet for His Servants
6 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will prepare a feast
on this mountain [C Mount Zion; 24:23] for all people.
It will be a feast with all the best food and wine,
the ·finest [tenderest; full of marrow] meat and ·wine [well-aged/filtered wines].
7 On this mountain God will ·destroy [swallow]
the ·veil [shroud; covering] that covers all nations,
the ·veil [sheet] that stretches over all peoples [C death];
8 he will ·destroy [swallow up] death forever [1 Cor. 15:54].
The Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face [Rev. 7:17; 21:4].
He will take away the ·shame [disgrace] of his people from the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 ·At that time [L In that day] people will say,
“·Our God is doing this [L Look/T Behold, this is our God]!
We have waited for him, and he has come to save us.
This is the Lord. We waited for him,
·so we will [let us] rejoice and ·be happy [be glad; celebrate] ·when he saves us [L in his salvation].”
10 The ·Lord will protect Jerusalem [L hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain],
·but he will crush our enemy Moab [L Moab will be trampled under him]
like straw that is trampled down in the manure.
11 They [L He; C Moab] will spread their arms in it
like a person who is swimming.
But God will bring down their pride,
·and all the clever things they have made will mean nothing [L together with the trickery of their hands].
12 He will ·destroy [bring down] ·Moab’s [L your] high, fortified walls,
·leveling them to the ground [laying them low].
He will throw them down to the ground,
even to the dust.
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