Isaiah 25

O 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.

1Lord, you are my God. I will lift you high and praise your name. You have done wonderful things. You planned them long ago, and you always keep your word.

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.

2You turned a city into a pile of rocks. You made a strong, walled town fall apart. The stronghold of strangers is not a city anymore. It will never be built again.

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

3So a strong people will honor you. Cities of cruel nations will look up to you with awe.

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.

4You have been a safe place for poor people. You have been a strong help for people in trouble. You are a shelter from the storm and shade from the hot sun. Cruel people blow hard, like rain beating on a wall.

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.

5They are like heat in a dry land. But you quiet the loud noise of strangers. A cloud's shade cools the heat. In the same way, the song of cruel people is hushed.

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.

6On this mountain the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make a feast for all peoples. There will be rich food and the best meat. There will be fine old wine, carefully strained.

Note"Fat things" in the old English means rich, choice food, not fatty scraps. "Wines on the lees" means wine left to age and then strained clear.

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.

7On this mountain he will take away the covering that lies over all peoples. He will take away the cloth spread over every nation.

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.

8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe the tears off every face. He will take away the shame of his people from the whole earth. The Lord has said it.

Note"Swallow up death in victory" means death is completely finished off and gone.

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.

9On that day people will say, "Look, this is our God. We waited for him, and he saved us. This is the Lord. We waited for him. Let us be happy and glad that he saved us."

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.

10The Lord's hand will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be stomped down right where it is. It will be like straw stomped into a pile of manure.

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.

11Moab will spread out its hands there, the way a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. But God will bring Moab's pride down, no matter how skilled its hands are.

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.

12God will pull down its high walls and strong tower. He will throw them to the ground, all the way into the dust.