Isaiah 25 (NET)

1 O Lord, you are my God!1

I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.2

For you have done extraordinary things,

and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed.3

2 Indeed,4 you have made the city5 into a heap of rubble,

the fortified town into a heap of ruins;

the fortress of foreigners6 is no longer a city,

it will never be rebuilt.

3 So a strong nation will extol you;

the towns of7 powerful nations will fear you.

4 For you are a protector for the poor,

a protector for the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm,

a shade from the heat.

Though the breath of tyrants8 is like a winter rainstorm,9

5 like heat10 in a dry land,

you humble the boasting foreigners.11

Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,12

so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.13

6 The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.14

At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine –

tender meat and choicest wine.15

7 On this mountain he will swallow up

the shroud that is over all the peoples,16

the woven covering that is over all the nations;17

8 he will swallow up death permanently.18

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!19

9 At that time they will say,20

“Look, here21 is our God!

We waited for him and he delivered us.

Here22 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.23

Moab will be trampled down where it stands,24

as a heap of straw is trampled down in25 a manure pile.

11 Moab26 will spread out its hands in the middle of it,27

just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;

the Lord28 will bring down Moab’s29 pride as it spreads its hands.30

12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your31 walls)32 he will knock down,

he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.33

125:1sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud. 225:1tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15. 325:1tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans. 425:2tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). 525:2tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (’ir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3. 625:2tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”). 725:3tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse. 825:4tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.” 925:4tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion. 1025:5tn Or “drought” (TEV). 1125:5tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.” 1225:5tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.” 1325:5tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (ya’aneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (’anah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, ye’aneh) would yield the same translation. 1425:6sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.” 1525:6tn Heb “And the Lord who commands 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.” 1625:7tn 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”). 1725:7sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8). 1825:8sn 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. 1925:8tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). 2025:9tn Heb “and one will say in that day.” 2125:9tn Heb “this [one].” 2225:9tn Heb “this [one].” 2325:10tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.” 2425:10tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.” 2525:10tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bÿmo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bÿmi, “in the water of”). 2625:11tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 2725:11tn 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. 2825:11tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 2925:11tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 3025:11tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), 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 (’arav, “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. 3125:12sn Moab is addressed. 3225:12tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.” 3325:12tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”