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The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.[a]
At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine—
tender meat and choicest wine.[b]
On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples,[c]
the woven covering that is over all the nations;[d]
he will swallow up death permanently.[e]
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![f]
At that time they will say,[g]
“Look, here[h] is our God!
We waited for him, and he delivered us.
Here[i] 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.[j]
Moab will be trampled down where it stands,[k]
as a heap of straw is trampled down in[l] a manure pile.
11 Moab[m] will spread out its hands in the middle of it,[n]
just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;
the Lord[o] will bring down Moab’s[p] pride as it spreads its hands.[q]
12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your[r] walls)[s] he will knock down,
he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.[t]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:6 sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”
  2. 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.”
  3. 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”).
  4. 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).
  5. 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.
  6. Isaiah 25:8 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
  7. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”
  8. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
  9. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
  10. 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.”
  11. Isaiah 25:10 tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”
  12. Isaiah 25:10 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bemo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bemi, “in the water of”).
  13. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 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.
  15. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. 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.
  18. Isaiah 25:12 sn Moab is addressed.
  19. Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”
  20. Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”

Celebration of the Righteous

“On this mountain,[a] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will prepare for all peoples
    a banquet of rich food,
a banquet of well-aged wines—
    rich food full of marrow,
        and refined wines of the finest[b] vintage
And on this mountain,[c] he will swallow up
    the burial[d] shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations—
he has swallowed up[e] death forever!
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
    and he will take away the disgrace of his people
        from the entire earth.”
for the Lord has spoken.

“And you[f] will say at that time,[g]
    ‘Look! It’s the Lord![h] This is our God!
We waited for him,
    and he saved us.
This is the Lord!
    We waited for him,
so let us rejoice,
    and we will[i] be glad that he has saved us.”

The Misery of Moab

10 For the Lord’s power[j] will rest on this mountain,[k]
    but the Moabites will be trodden down beneath him,
just as straw is trodden down
    in the slime of[l] a manure pit.
11 They will spread out their hands in the thick of it,
    just as swimmers spread out their hands to swim,
but the Lord will bring down their pride,
    together with the cleverness of their hands.
12 He brings down the high fortifications of your walls
    and lays them low;
he will raze them[m] to the ground,
    right down to the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:6 I.e. Mount Zion; cf. 24:23
  2. Isaiah 25:6 1QIsaa MT lack the finest
  3. Isaiah 25:7 I.e. Mount Zion; cf. 24:23
  4. Isaiah 25:7 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks burial
  5. Isaiah 25:8 So 1QIsaa MTms; MT reads And he will swallow up; cf. LXX Syr Theodotian 1Cor 15:54
  6. Isaiah 25:9 So 1QIsaa Syriac; 4QIsac MT read he; LXX reads they
  7. Isaiah 25:9 Lit. say on that day
  8. Isaiah 25:9 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack It’s the Lord
  9. Isaiah 25:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and let us
  10. Isaiah 25:10 Lit. hand
  11. Isaiah 25:10 I.e. Mount Zion; cf. 24:23
  12. Isaiah 25:10 Lit. in the water of; so 1QIsaa MT; MTqere reads in; LXX reads in wagons
  13. Isaiah 25:12 Or reach; so 1QIsaa; 4QIsac MT read he casts them