Isaiah 25

LORD, you are my God. I will lift you high; I will praise your name. You have done wonderful things, plans you made long ago, carried out in complete faithfulness and truth.

1O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

NoteLORD printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters (YHWH) which Jewish readers by long custom did not say aloud, substituting the ordinary word for "lord." English Bibles keep that custom by printing LORD in capitals; where the text has the ordinary word for a master or lord it is printed "Lord."

2You have turned a city into a heap of rubble and a walled town into a ruin. The stronghold of foreigners is a city no longer; it will never be rebuilt.

2For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

NoteThe Hebrew never names this city, and Isaiah gives no clue which one he means; readers ancient and modern have suggested Babylon, a Moabite town, or no particular city at all but any arrogant power. "Stronghold of foreigners" translates a phrase that could equally mean a palace belonging to foreigners or a citadel garrisoned by them.

3So a strong people will give you honor. The city of ruthless nations will stand in awe of you.

3Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

4You have been a place of strength for the poor, a strength for the needy in his trouble, a shelter from the storm, and shade from the heat. The blast of the ruthless is like a storm beating against a wall.

4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

NoteWalls in this region were commonly built of sun-dried mud brick. A driving rainstorm could soften and bring one down, which is why a storm beating against a wall serves as a picture of destructive force. The word behind "blast" is the ordinary Hebrew word for breath or wind.

5You bring down the uproar of foreigners, the way heat is stilled in a dry land. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is brought low.

5Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

Note"Song" here translates a Hebrew word spelled the same as the word for a pruned branch or vine-cutting. The King James translators took it the second way ("the branch of the terrible ones"); most modern translations take it as "song" or "noise," matching the "uproar" earlier in the verse. Both readings are available in the Hebrew.

6On this mountain the LORD who commands heaven's armies will spread a feast for all peoples: rich food and aged wine, the best cuts full of marrow, and aged wine strained clear.

6And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

Note"This mountain" is Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood; it was named at the end of the previous chapter. "The LORD who commands heaven's armies" renders the title "LORD of hosts," picturing God as the commander of vast armies (variously understood as Israel's armies, the stars, or heavenly beings. Wine was left standing on its lees) the sediment left by fermentation, to gain strength and flavor, then poured off and strained before drinking, so "aged wine strained clear" means the finest wine obtainable rather than everyday wine. Marrow-filled bones were a delicacy, so "the best cuts full of marrow" means the richest meat, not merely a large quantity.

7On this mountain he will destroy the covering that is wrapped over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations.

7And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

NoteThe two Hebrew words are for a wrapping and a woven sheet drawn over the face. Readers have understood this either as the veil worn by mourners and the cloth wrapped round a corpse, which fits the mention of death in the next verse, or as a covering that keeps people from seeing. The text does not decide between them.

8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe the tears from every face. He will take away his people's disgrace from the whole earth. The LORD has said it.

8He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Note"Swallow up" is the same verb used of the covering in the previous verse. The Hebrew phrase rendered "forever" can also mean "completely" or "to victory"; the King James "in victory" follows the ancient Greek translation. "Disgrace" translates a word for public shame and the taunting that goes with it, the mockery a defeated, scattered people endured from its neighbors. "Lord GOD" here reflects a Hebrew phrase combining the ordinary word for lord with the divine name; to avoid printing "Lord LORD," English Bibles set the second word as GOD.

9In that day it will be said, "Look, this is our God. We waited for him, and he will save us. This is the LORD; we waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice that he saves us."

9And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled down where he stands, the way straw is trampled into the manure pile.

10For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

NoteMoab was a small kingdom on the high plateau east of the Dead Sea, across the Jordan from Judah, close kin to Israel by tradition and a frequent enemy; Isaiah devotes two earlier chapters to it. A hand "resting" somewhere pictures settled, established presence, and the same hand that settles on the mountain falls on Moab. Straw was trodden into dung both to make fertilizer and to form dung cakes for fuel, so being trampled into the manure pile is an image of something worthless being worked underfoot. The phrase translated "where he stands" is spelled in a way that some read instead as a place name, roughly "in the waters of Madmen."

11He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, the way a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. And he will bring their pride down, along with what their hands have taken.

11And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.

NoteThe Hebrew does not make clear who spreads out his hands, Moab, flailing like a swimmer trying to get out of the heap, or the LORD reaching down into it. Both readings have long been held. The last phrase, King James "the spoils of their hands," uses a rare Hebrew word of uncertain meaning, taken variously as plunder, as skill or craft, and as trickery.

12Your high fortified walls he will bring down. He will lay them low and throw them to the ground, right into the dust.

12And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Note"Your" is singular here: the poem turns from speaking about Moab to speaking directly to it, a common shift in Hebrew poetry. "High fortified walls" describes a defensive wall raised with towers, the strongest fortification a town could have.