Isaiah 25:2-4
New English Translation
2 Indeed,[a] you have made the city[b] into a heap of rubble,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners[c] is no longer a city,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of[d] 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 tyrants[e] is like a winter rainstorm,[f]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 25:2 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 25:2 tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (ʿir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3.
- Isaiah 25:2 tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”).
- Isaiah 25:3 tn 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.
- Isaiah 25:4 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”
- Isaiah 25:4 tc 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.
Isaiah 25:2-4
English Standard Version
2 For you have made the city (A)a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 (B)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 (C)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
(D)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
(E)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
Isaiah 25:2-4
New King James Version
2 For You have made (A)a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will (B)glorify You;
The city of the [a]terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
(C)A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 25:3 terrifying
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