Song of Praise for God’s Favor

25 Lord, You are (A)my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have (B)worked wonders,
(C)Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
For You have turned a city into a (D)heap,
A (E)fortified city into a ruin;
A (F)palace of strangers is no longer a city,
It will never be rebuilt.
Therefore a strong people will (G)glorify You;
(H)Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
For You have been a (I)stronghold for the helpless,
A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
A (J)refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the (K)ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
Like heat in a dry land, You subdue the (L)uproar of foreigners;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is [a]silenced.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:5 Lit humbled

Praise to the Victorious God

25 Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for you have done marvelous things,
        plans made long ago in faithfulness and truth.
For you have made the city a heap of rubble,
    the fortified city into a ruin;
the foreigners’ citadel[a] is no longer a city—
    it will never be rebuilt!
Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
For you have been a stronghold for the poor,
    a stronghold for the needy in distress,
a shelter from the storm
    and a shade from the heat—
for the blistering attack[b] from the ruthless
    is like a rainstorm beating against a wall,
and the noise of foreigners is like the heat of the desert.
    Just as you subdue heat by the shade of clouds,
        so the victory songs of violent men will be stilled.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:2 So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss LXX read citadel of arrogant people
  2. Isaiah 25:4 1QIsaa MT lack attack