Isaiah 25

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Reading Isaiah · Follow the poetry

Much of Isaiah is written in Hebrew poetry. Its lines often work together: one introduces a thought, and another echoes, contrasts with or develops it. Reading those relationships can make a difficult passage easier to follow.

Why Isaiah is displayed in lines

The Bible Directory sets poetic passages in lines to help you notice related phrases, repeated words and contrasting images. Narrative passages remain in paragraphs.

The biblical wording is unchanged. Line breaks and spacing are editorial reading aids; scholars and translators sometimes divide passages differently. A poetic thought may also continue across several numbered verses.

Read two lines together

Hear, O heavens,
and give ear, O earth:

Isaiah 1:2, KJV

“Give ear” echoes “hear,” while “heavens” and “earth” form a corresponding pair. Together, the lines broaden the address. Continue reading to see what these listeners are called to hear.

Patterns to notice

Synonymous parallelism · Echo and develop
Related words or images connect neighboring lines. Even when the lines sound similar, look for a difference in emphasis, detail or scope.

Antithetical parallelism · Set thoughts in contrast
Lines place contrasting actions, conditions or outcomes beside one another. Read both sides to understand how the contrast works.

Development or progression · Carry the thought further
A following line adds a detail, consequence, explanation or next step. Ask what becomes clearer as the thought unfolds.

Emblematic parallelism · Make a connection through imagery
An image or comparison develops a related thought. Notice how the image and the statement illuminate each other.

Climactic parallelism · Repeat and build
A word or phrase returns, then the next line adds something that advances or completes the expression.

These are descriptive tools, not fixed boxes. Scholars differ over some labels and how particular passages should be classified. A passage may combine several patterns.

Other structures worth noticing

Chiasmus · Return in reverse order
Words or ideas appear in a sequence, then return in reverse order—for example, A–B–B–A. Look for clear correspondences in the wording and structure before identifying a pattern.

Repetition · Follow a recurring phrase
Repeated words can connect several verses, emphasize a concern or mark a new movement within a poem.

Keep reading beyond the pair

Not every poetic passage consists of two matching lines. Follow the thought across the verse numbers, notice changes of speaker and watch how an image develops.

Start with one question: What does the next line add?

1 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, 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.

10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.

12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Isaiah 25.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

What historical setting lies behind Isaiah 25?

The hymn responds to the universal judgment and banquet imagery of the surrounding section rather than a dated event.

How does Isaiah 25's thanksgiving hymn + banquet vision shape the chapter?

First-person praise expands into a feast for all peoples and then returns to images of defeated oppressive power.

What kind of banquet is imagined in Isaiah 25:6?

Royal and cultic feast traditions provide background, but the poem deliberately universalizes the meal to “all peoples.” It is a literary vision rather than a recoverable historical banquet.

Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
  • Feasting in the Ancient Near EastThe Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Illustrated discussion of elite meals, bread, meat, wine, vessels, music, and communal celebration in an ancient Near Eastern society. It provides material context for Isaiah 25’s mountain feast of rich food and aged wine without suggesting that Isaiah’s poem derives directly from Egyptian customs.

Language & Literature2
  • Isaiah 25 in Hebrew and EnglishSefaria

    Presents the Hebrew poem with an English translation and access to Jewish textual commentary. Readers can examine the paired descriptions of the feast, the shroud and covering spread over the nations, death being swallowed, tears being wiped away, and the repeated declaration that the people waited for deliverance.

  • Isaiah 25 in Hebrew and EnglishMechon Mamre

    Presents the Hebrew poem alongside an English translation. Readers can trace repeated vocabulary involving strength, refuge, nations, mountains, feasting, covering, swallowing, death, tears, waiting, salvation, and the contrasting humiliation of Moab.

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