Isaiah chapter 25
English Standard Version
1O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 2For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners ' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. 4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 5 like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." 10For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. 11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. 12And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.
New International Version
1 Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. 2You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. 4You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall
5and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. 6On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
9In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." 10The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled in their land as straw is trampled down in the manure. 11They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. 12He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.
New American Standard Bible
1Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. 2For You have turned a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore a strong people will glorify You; Cities of ruthless nations will revere You. 4For You have been a stronghold for the helpless, A stronghold for the poor in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. 5Like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of foreigners; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. 6Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. 7And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples, The veil which is stretched over all nations. 8He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. 9And it will be said on that day, 'Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.' 10For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, And Moab will be trampled down in his place As straw is trampled down in the water of a manure pile. 11And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands. 12The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low, and throw to the ground, to the dust.
Christian Standard Bible
1 Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you. I will praise your name, for you have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. 2For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks, a fortified city, into ruins; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore, a strong people will honor you. The cities of violent nations will fear you. 4For you have been a stronghold for the poor person, a stronghold for the needy in his distress, a refuge from storms and a shade from heat. When the breath of the violent is like a storm against a wall,
5like heat in a dry land, you will subdue the uproar of barbarians. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day, so he will silence the song of the violent. 6On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. 7On this mountain he will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations;
8he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9On that day it will be said, "Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
10For the Lord’s power will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trampled in a dung pile. 11He will spread out his arms in the middle of it, as a swimmer spreads out his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, along with the trickery of his hands. 12The high-walled fortress will be brought down, thrown to the ground, to the dust.
New Living Translation
1O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them. 2You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory; ruthless nations will fear you.
4But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, 5or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled.
6In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat. 7There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 8He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken!
9In that day the people will proclaim, 'This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!' 10For the Lord’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem. But Moab will be crushed. It will be like straw trampled down and left to rot. 11God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. 12The high walls of Moab will be demolished. They will be brought down to the ground, down into the dust.
King James Version
New King James Version
1O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You. 4For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 5You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud, The song of the terrible ones will be diminished. 6And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees. 7And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. 9And it will be said in that day: “Behold, 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.” 10For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, And Moab shall be trampled down under Him, As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. 11And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands. 12The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
What does Isaiah chapter 25 mean?
Chapter 25 follows the description of God's judgment of the earth (Isaiah 24:21–23). In this passage the Lord's people celebrate Him for His righteousness. They also cheer His defeat of all His enemies, and His grace in removing the covering of death from all who belong to Him.The prophet Isaiah begins by demonstrating that his relationship with the Lord is deeply personal. The same is true for every person who truly belongs to God. Isaiah declares that he will exalt his God. The prophet will continuously praise the name of the Lord for all the wonderful, miraculous, powerful things God has done. This praise includes the use of His limitless power to judge the earth for human sin (Isaiah 25:1).
Isaiah praises God for faithfully carrying out His plans and purposes for the earth. In this praise he especially notes the Lord's plan to destroy the palace of the "foreigners' palace." This refers the political powers of all those on the earth who stood against God and His people. In broad terms, Israel viewed themselves as God's people, and those outside of Israel as being opposed to God. Isaiah will later refer to God taking away sin and shame from the entire world (Isaiah 25:8). Before then, these ruthless nations will know to fear the Lord and the strong people will honor Him (Isaiah 25:2–3).
It's not just that the Lord puts the merciless nations in their place. He also protects the poor and needy from these harsh rulers. That's who the Lord God is: a stronghold for those in need (Psalm 9:9; 62:6). He is a shelter in the turmoil and a shade in the heat. He silences the battle cries of the ruthless foreign invaders by stepping between them and His own people (Isaiah 25:4–5).
Isaiah pictures a banquet held at the inauguration of the Lord as King over Israel and the whole world. The celebration is held on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. This time of feasting includes the choicest wine and richest meats. More importantly, the Lord will take away the curse which has existed over all peoples since the first sin in the garden (Genesis 3:17–19). The Messiah will swallow up death forever. He will wipe away the tears of each of His people (Revelation 21:4), taking away the reproach of their sin permanently (Isaiah 25:6–8).
The people will respond with gladness and rejoicing, declaring that this is their God. They have waited on Him to save them, and now He has. Their trust in Him and their waiting has been proven right (Isaiah 25:9).
Those who refused to trust in the Lord will be judged. Isaiah shows the Lord with one hand on Mount Zion and His foot outstretched to crush Moab down into the ground. The nation of Moab was a frequent enemy of the Israelites (Joshua 24:9). Much as "foreigners" was a term used in contrast to God's people of Israel, Moab represents all who would not trust the Lord or wait on Him. Moab is depicted like someone who has fallen into a dung-pit: flailing for survival but unable to escape sinking into the filth (Isaiah 25:10–11).
The Lord judges Moab and all who refuse to trust in Him for their pompous pride. Their belief that they didn't need to wait for the Lord God of Israel is their downfall. He will knock down the fortification of their human walls and defeat them in His judgment (Isaiah 25:12).
