Isaiah 25-27

1O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders— plans formed long ago— in perfect faithfulness.

2Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

3Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

4For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,

5like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

6On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.

7On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;

8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.

9And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.

11He will spread out his hands within it, as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, despite the skill of his hands.

12The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.

1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

2Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter— one that remains faithful.

3You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

4Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

5For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.

6Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.

7The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.

8Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.

9My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

10Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

11O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

12O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

13O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.

14The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

15You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.

16O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

17As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

18We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

2In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard.

3I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;

4I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.

5Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me— yes, let them make peace with Me.”

6In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

7Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her?

8By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.

9Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

10For the fortified city lies deserted— a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.

11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

12In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.

13And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.