God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25 O Lord, (A)you are my God;
    (B)I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    (C)plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city (D)a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
(E)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
(F)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    (G)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
(H)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
    (I)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.

(J)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    (K)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up (L)on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    (M)the veil that is spread over all nations.
    (N)He will swallow up death forever;
and (O)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and (P)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    (Q)for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; (R)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    (S)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest (T)on this mountain,
    and (U)Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.[a]
11 (V)And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
    but the Lord (W)will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill[b] of his hands.
12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

26 In that day (X)this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up (Y)salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
(Z)Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
(AA)You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
(AB)For he has humbled
    the inhabitants of the height,
    the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
    casts it to the dust.
The foot tramples it,
    the feet of (AC)the poor,
    the steps of (AD)the needy.”

The path of the righteous is level;
    (AE)you make level the way of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments,
    O Lord, we wait for you;
(AF)your name and (AG)remembrance
    are the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
(AH)For when your judgments are in the earth,
    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 (AI)If favor is shown to the wicked,
    he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, (AJ)your hand is lifted up,
    but (AK)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
    Let (AL)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, you will ordain (AM)peace for us,
    for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
    (AN)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    (AO)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
    they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
    and wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 (AP)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
    you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
    (AQ)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, (AR)in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a whispered prayer
    when your discipline was upon them.
17 (AS)Like a pregnant woman
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs
    when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
18     (AT)we were pregnant, we writhed,
    but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 (AU)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For (AV)your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
    and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves (AW)for a little while
    until the fury has passed by.
21 (AX)For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
    to punish the inhabitants of (AY)the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
    and will no more cover its slain.

The Redemption of Israel

27 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong (AZ)sword will punish (BA)Leviathan the fleeing serpent, (BB)Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay (BC)the dragon that is in the sea.

In that day,
(BD)“A pleasant vineyard,[c] (BE)sing of it!
    I, the Lord, am its keeper;
    every moment I water it.
    Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
    I have no wrath.
(BF)Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
    I would march against them,
    I would burn them up together.
Or let them lay hold of my protection,
    let them make peace with me,
    let them make peace with me.”

(BG)In days to come[d] Jacob shall take root,
    Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
    and fill the whole world with fruit.

(BH)Has he struck them (BI)as he struck those who struck them?
    Or have they been slain (BJ)as their slayers were slain?
(BK)Measure by measure,[e] by exile you contended with them;
    (BL)he removed them with his fierce breath[f] in the day of the east wind.
Therefore by this (BM)the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[g]
(BN)when he makes all the stones of the altars
    like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
    no (BO)Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10 (BP)For the fortified city is solitary,
    a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
    there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
    women come and make a fire of them.
(BQ)For this is a people without discernment;
    therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
    he who formed them will show them no favor.

12 In that day (BR)from the river Euphrates[h] to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day (BS)a great trumpet will be blown, (BT)and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt (BU)will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike
  2. Isaiah 25:11 Or in spite of the skill
  3. Isaiah 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine
  4. Isaiah 27:6 Hebrew In those to come
  5. Isaiah 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  6. Isaiah 27:8 Or wind
  7. Isaiah 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin
  8. Isaiah 27:12 Hebrew from the River

Praise to the Lord

25 Lord, you are my God;(A)
    I will exalt you and praise your name,(B)
for in perfect faithfulness(C)
    you have done wonderful things,(D)
    things planned(E) long ago.
You have made the city a heap of rubble,(F)
    the fortified(G) town a ruin,(H)
the foreigners’ stronghold(I) a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.(J)
Therefore strong peoples will honor you;(K)
    cities of ruthless(L) nations will revere you.
You have been a refuge(M) for the poor,(N)
    a refuge for the needy(O) in their distress,
a shelter from the storm(P)
    and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless(Q)
    is like a storm driving against a wall
    and like the heat of the desert.
You silence(R) the uproar of foreigners;(S)
    as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless(T) is stilled.

On this mountain(U) the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast(V) of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.(W)
On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud(X) that enfolds all peoples,(Y)
the sheet that covers all nations;
    he will swallow up death(Z) forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears(AA)
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace(AB)
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.(AC)

In that day(AD) they will say,

“Surely this is our God;(AE)
    we trusted(AF) in him, and he saved(AG) us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice(AH) and be glad in his salvation.”(AI)

10 The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain;(AJ)
    but Moab(AK) will be trampled in their land
    as straw is trampled down in the manure.
11 They will stretch out their hands in it,
    as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.
God will bring down(AL) their pride(AM)
    despite the cleverness[a] of their hands.
12 He will bring down your high fortified walls(AN)
    and lay them low;(AO)
he will bring them down to the ground,
    to the very dust.

A Song of Praise

26 In that day(AP) this song will be sung(AQ) in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;(AR)
    God makes salvation
    its walls(AS) and ramparts.(AT)
Open the gates(AU)
    that the righteous(AV) nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
You will keep in perfect peace(AW)
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust(AX) in you.
Trust(AY) in the Lord forever,(AZ)
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock(BA) eternal.
He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground(BB)
    and casts it down to the dust.(BC)
Feet trample(BD) it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,(BE)
    the footsteps of the poor.(BF)

The path of the righteous is level;(BG)
    you, the Upright One,(BH) make the way of the righteous smooth.(BI)
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[b](BJ)
    we wait(BK) for you;
your name(BL) and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
My soul yearns for you in the night;(BM)
    in the morning my spirit longs(BN) for you.
When your judgments(BO) come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.(BP)
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,(BQ)
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil(BR)
    and do not regard(BS) the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,(BT)
    but they do not see(BU) it.
Let them see your zeal(BV) for your people and be put to shame;(BW)
    let the fire(BX) reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace(BY) for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done(BZ) for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords(CA) besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name(CB) alone do we honor.(CC)
14 They are now dead,(CD) they live no more;
    their spirits(CE) do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;(CF)
    you wiped out all memory of them.(CG)
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.(CH)
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders(CI) of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;(CJ)
    when you disciplined(CK) them,
    they could barely whisper(CL) a prayer.[c]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth(CM)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth(CN) to wind.
We have not brought salvation(CO) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.(CP)

19 But your dead(CQ) will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust(CR)
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew(CS) is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.(CT)

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors(CU) behind you;
hide(CV) yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath(CW) has passed by.(CX)
21 See, the Lord is coming(CY) out of his dwelling(CZ)
    to punish(DA) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood(DB) shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Deliverance of Israel

27 In that day,(DC)

the Lord will punish with his sword(DD)
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan(DE) the gliding serpent,(DF)
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster(DG) of the sea.

In that day(DH)

“Sing(DI) about a fruitful vineyard:(DJ)
    I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water(DK) it continually.
I guard(DL) it day and night
    so that no one may harm(DM) it.
    I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
    I would march against them in battle;
    I would set them all on fire.(DN)
Or else let them come to me for refuge;(DO)
    let them make peace(DP) with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

In days to come Jacob will take root,(DQ)
    Israel will bud and blossom(DR)
    and fill all the world with fruit.(DS)

Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck(DT) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
By warfare[d] and exile(DU) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind(DV) blows.
By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned(DW) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:(DX)
When he makes all the altar stones(DY)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles[e](DZ) or incense altars(EA)
    will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,(EB)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken(EC) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,(ED)
    there they lie down;(EE)
    they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off(EF)
    and women come and make fires(EG) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;(EH)
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator(EI) shows them no favor.(EJ)

12 In that day the Lord will thresh(EK) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,(EL) and you, Israel, will be gathered(EM) up one by one. 13 And in that day(EN) a great trumpet(EO) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled(EP) in Egypt(EQ) will come and worship(ER) the Lord on the holy mountain(ES) in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 26:8 Or judgments
  3. Isaiah 26:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
  4. Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  5. Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah