Old Testament · Prophecy

Isaiah 25

The Great Feast

On this mountain, God will prepare a feast for all peoples. He will swallow up death forever and wipe away every tear.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV

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.

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.

Understand This

Isaiah 25, explained

What Isaiah 25 is saying

A psalm of praise celebrates God's faithfulness in fulfilling His plans—bringing down fortified cities and sheltering the poor. The vision culminates in the eschatological banquet on Mount Zion where God swallows up death forever and wipes tears from every face. Moab's humiliation provides a contrasting conclusion.

The background behind it

The banquet imagery draws on Ancient Near Eastern coronation and victory feasts. The promise that God will 'swallow up death forever' is directly quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54 and echoed in Revelation 21:4.

Themes running underneath

God's faithfulness to His 'plans formed long ago' anchors all hope. The eschatological feast and the destruction of death represent the ultimate reversal of the human condition.

Why it still matters

The promise that God will wipe away every tear is not sentimental—it is the most radical hope in Scripture. Death itself is on God's menu to destroy.

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Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.