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.

King James Version BSB KJV

1O 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.

2For 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.

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

4For 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.

5Thou 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.

6And 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.

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

8He 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.

9And 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.

10For 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.

11And 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.

12And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to 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: King James Version — public domain.