Song of Praise for God’s Favor

25 O Lord, You are (A)my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have (B)worked wonders,
(C)Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
For You have made a city into a (D)heap,
A (E)fortified city into a ruin;
A (F)palace of strangers is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
Therefore a strong people will (G)glorify You;
(H)Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
For You have been a (I)defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A (J)refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the (K)ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
Like heat in drought, You subdue the (L)uproar of aliens;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is [a]silenced.

(M)The Lord of hosts will prepare a [b]lavish banquet for (N)all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of [c]aged wine, [d]choice pieces with marrow,
And [e]refined, aged wine.
And on this mountain He will swallow up the [f](O)covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is [g]stretched over all nations.
He will (P)swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord [h]God will (Q)wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the (R)reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, (S)this is our God for whom we have (T)waited that (U)He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
(V)Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
And (W)Moab will be trodden down in his place
As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will (X)spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will (Y)lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The (Z)unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

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

“We have a (AB)strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for [i](AC)security.
“Open the (AD)gates, that the (AE)righteous nation may enter,
The one that [j]remains faithful.
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect (AF)peace,
Because he trusts in You.
(AG)Trust in the Lord forever,
For in [k]God the Lord, we have an everlasting (AH)Rock.
“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the (AI)unassailable city;
(AJ)He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
(AK)The foot will trample it,
The feet of the (AL)afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

The (AM)way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, (AN)make the path of the righteous level.
Indeed, while following the way of (AO)Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited for You eagerly;
(AP)Your name, even Your (AQ)memory, is the desire of our souls.
(AR)At night [l]my soul longs for You,
Indeed, [m]my spirit within me (AS)seeks You diligently;
For when the earth [n]experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world (AT)learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not (AU)learn righteousness;
He (AV)deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

11 O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they (AW)do not see it.
[o]They see (AX)Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, [p](AY)fire will devour Your enemies.
12 Lord, You will establish (AZ)peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God, (BA)other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we [q](BB)confess Your name.
14 (BC)The dead will not live, the [r]departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have (BD)punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 (BE)You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have (BF)extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they sought You (BG)in distress;
They [s]could only whisper a prayer,
Your chastening was upon them.
17 (BH)As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
Thus were we before You, O Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We (BI)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were (BJ)inhabitants of the world [t]born.
19 Your (BK)dead will live;
[u]Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, (BL)awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the [v]dawn,
And the earth will [w]give birth to the [x]departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, (BM)enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little [y](BN)while
Until (BO)indignation [z]runs its course.
21 For behold, the Lord is about to (BP)come out from His place
To (BQ)punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will (BR)reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

The Deliverance of Israel

27 In that day (BS)the Lord will punish [aa](BT)Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even [ab]Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And (BU)He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

In that day,
“A [ac](BV)vineyard of wine, sing of it!
“I, the Lord, am its keeper;
(BW)I water it every moment.
So that no one will [ad]damage it,
I (BX)guard it night and day.
“I have no wrath.
Should [ae]someone give Me (BY)briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, (BZ)I would burn them [af]completely.
“Or let him [ag](CA)rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him (CB)make peace with Me.”
[ah]In the days to come Jacob (CC)will take root,
Israel will (CD)blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the [ai]whole world with (CE)fruit.

Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has (CF)He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, [aj]have they been slain?
You contended with them [ak]by banishing them, by (CG)driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the (CH)east wind.
Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be (CI)forgiven;
And this will be [al]the full price of the [am](CJ)pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the (CK)altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When [an]Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is (CL)isolated,
A [ao]homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert;
(CM)There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and [ap]feed on its branches.
11 When its (CN)limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of (CO)discernment,
Therefore (CP)their Maker (CQ)will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.

12 In that day the Lord (CR)will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the (CS)Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be (CT)gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great (CU)trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of (CV)Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and (CW)worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

28 Woe to the proud crown of the (CX)drunkards of (CY)Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [aq]fertile valley
Of those who are [ar]overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord has a strong and (CZ)mighty agent;
As a storm of (DA)hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of (DB)mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is (DC)trodden under foot.
And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [as]fertile valley,
Will be like the (DD)first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which [at]one sees,
And [au]as soon as it is in his [av]hand,
He swallows it.
In that day the (DE)Lord of hosts will become a beautiful (DF)crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
A (DG)spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A (DH)strength to those who repel the [aw]onslaught at the gate.
And these also (DI)reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
(DJ)The priest and (DK)the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from (DL)strong drink;
They reel while [ax]having (DM)visions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
For all the tables are full of filthy (DN)vomit, without a single clean place.

“To (DO)whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just (DP)weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 “For He says,
[ay](DQ)Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through (DR)stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is (DS)rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
[az]Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and (DT)stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

14 Therefore, (DU)hear the word of the Lord, O (DV)scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a (DW)covenant with death,
And with [ba]Sheol we have made a [bb]pact.
(DX)The overwhelming [bc]scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made (DY)falsehood our refuge and we have (DZ)concealed ourselves with deception.”

16 Therefore thus says the Lord [bd]God,

(EA)Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested (EB)stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, [be]firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be [bf]disturbed.
17 “I will make (EC)justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then (ED)hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your (EE)covenant with death will be [bg](EF)canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the (EG)overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its (EH)trampling place.
19 “As (EI)often as it passes through, it will [bh]seize you;
For (EJ)morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be [bi]sheer (EK)terror to understand [bj]what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the (EL)blanket is too [bk]small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount (EM)Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of (EN)Gibeon,
To do His (EO)task, His [bl](EP)unusual task,
And to work His work, His [bm]extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as (EQ)scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord [bn]God of hosts
Of decisive (ER)destruction on all the earth.

23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the [bo]farmer plow [bp]continually to plant seed?
Does he continually [bq]turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter (ES)cummin
And [br]plant (ET)wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its [bs]area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a (EU)threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel [bt]driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually [bu]damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel (EV)wonderful and His wisdom (EW)great.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 25:5 Lit humbled
  2. Isaiah 25:6 Lit feast of fat things; i.e. abundance
  3. Isaiah 25:6 Lit wine on the lees
  4. Isaiah 25:6 Lit fat pieces
  5. Isaiah 25:6 Lit wine refined on the lees
  6. Isaiah 25:7 Lit face of the covering
  7. Isaiah 25:7 Lit woven
  8. Isaiah 25:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  9. Isaiah 26:1 Or salvation
  10. Isaiah 26:2 Lit keeps faithfulness
  11. Isaiah 26:4 Heb Yah, usually rendered Lord
  12. Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my soul I long
  13. Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my spirit...I seek
  14. Isaiah 26:9 Lit has
  15. Isaiah 26:11 Or Let them see...and be
  16. Isaiah 26:11 Or let the fire for Your adversaries devour them
  17. Isaiah 26:13 Or cause to be remembered
  18. Isaiah 26:14 Or shades
  19. Isaiah 26:16 Lit sound forth a whisper
  20. Isaiah 26:18 Lit fallen
  21. Isaiah 26:19 So with some ancient versions; Heb My
  22. Isaiah 26:19 Lit lights
  23. Isaiah 26:19 Lit cause to fall
  24. Isaiah 26:19 Or shades
  25. Isaiah 26:20 Lit moment
  26. Isaiah 26:20 Lit passes over
  27. Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
  28. Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
  29. Isaiah 27:2 Some mss read a vineyard of delight
  30. Isaiah 27:3 Lit punish
  31. Isaiah 27:4 Lit who
  32. Isaiah 27:4 Lit altogether
  33. Isaiah 27:5 Lit take hold of
  34. Isaiah 27:6 Lit Those coming
  35. Isaiah 27:6 Lit face of
  36. Isaiah 27:7 Lit he was slain
  37. Isaiah 27:8 Some ancient versions read by exact measure
  38. Isaiah 27:9 Lit all the fruit
  39. Isaiah 27:9 Lit removing
  40. Isaiah 27:9 I.e. wooden symbols of a female deity
  41. Isaiah 27:10 Lit pasture
  42. Isaiah 27:10 Lit consume
  43. Isaiah 28:1 Lit valley of fatness
  44. Isaiah 28:1 Lit smitten
  45. Isaiah 28:4 Lit valley of fatness
  46. Isaiah 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees
  47. Isaiah 28:4 Lit while it is yet
  48. Isaiah 28:4 Lit palm
  49. Isaiah 28:6 Lit battle
  50. Isaiah 28:7 Lit seeing
  51. Isaiah 28:10 Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching
  52. Isaiah 28:13 V 10, note 1 The Lord responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror
  53. Isaiah 28:15 I.e. the nether world
  54. Isaiah 28:15 So some ancient versions; Heb seer
  55. Isaiah 28:15 Or flood
  56. Isaiah 28:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  57. Isaiah 28:16 Lit well-laid
  58. Isaiah 28:16 Lit in a hurry
  59. Isaiah 28:18 Lit covered over
  60. Isaiah 28:19 Lit take
  61. Isaiah 28:19 Lit only
  62. Isaiah 28:19 Lit the report, or, the message
  63. Isaiah 28:20 Lit narrow
  64. Isaiah 28:21 Lit task is strange
  65. Isaiah 28:21 Lit work is alien
  66. Isaiah 28:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  67. Isaiah 28:24 Lit plowman
  68. Isaiah 28:24 Lit all day
  69. Isaiah 28:24 Lit open
  70. Isaiah 28:25 Lit put
  71. Isaiah 28:25 Lit region
  72. Isaiah 28:27 Lit rolled
  73. Isaiah 28:28 Lit discomfit