Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Isaiah 25

Isaiah 25 joins praise for God’s protection of the poor with his promised defeat of death and humbling of pride.

A voice of praise addresses YHWH as God, celebrating his faithful plans and the overthrow of a fortified city whose identity is left unnamed. God shelters the poor while bringing violent powers low. The vision then turns to a mountain feast for all peoples, where God removes death and wipes away tears. Those who have waited for him rejoice in his salvation. The closing scene names Moab as the object of judgment, with its pride and defenses brought down.

death and what comes aftergriefwaiting
Read
1The LORD, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.
2For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built.
3Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you.
4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.
5As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.
6In this mountain, the LORD of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines.
7He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
8He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for the LORD has spoken it.
9It shall 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 the LORD’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
11He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands.
12He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 25:9The waiting people recognize their God and rejoice as the salvation they trusted him for comes into view.
Isaiah 25:8God’s victory reaches beyond fallen cities to death itself, with tears and his people’s disgrace removed.
Isaiah 25:4The storm and heat images show why God receives praise: he shelters the needy from those who threaten them.
Where this chapter reaches

1 Corinthians quotes the promise of death being swallowed up when describing the resurrection and the victory God gives through Jesus Christ. Revelation shares Isaiah’s picture of God wiping away tears and ending death, placing that hope within its vision of God dwelling with his people.

Isaiah 25's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the ruined city and the shelter for the poor reveal about God’s use of power?

Write on this

Which part of the promised feast and victory over death most shapes what you hope for?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Isaiah 25

What does Isaiah 25:8 mean by death being swallowed up?

The image presents death as something God destroys for good. It follows the removal of a covering spread over all nations and stands beside the promise that God will wipe away tears. The scope reaches beyond rescue from one enemy or disaster to the end of death itself.

What mountain is the feast on in Isaiah 25?

The chapter calls it “this mountain” without naming it within these twelve verses. In Isaiah’s wider setting, the mountain is Zion, associated with God’s presence and rule. Here it becomes the place of a rich feast for all peoples, the removal of death, and the resting of YHWH’s hand.

Why is Moab judged in Isaiah 25?

The closing verses connect Moab’s downfall with pride and confidence in its own skill and defenses. The swimmer image depicts effort that cannot prevent humiliation, while the fortress ends in dust. The passage names no particular ruler or battle, so the precise historical event remains uncertain.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Isaiah 25. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Isaiah · 66 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566
What the Bible says about death →What the Bible says about grief →What the Bible says about patience →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).