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Thursday, July 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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THE MESSAGE

Isaiah 25:2

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- The Topic Concordance - Fear;   Glory;   God;   Refuge;   Strength;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Cities;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Castle;   Isaiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Isaiah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Sirach;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ahaz;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Heap;   Intercession;   Isaiah;   Ruin;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks,a fortified city, into ruins;the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city;it will never be rebuilt.
Hebrew Names Version
For you have made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
King James Version
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.
English Standard Version
For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
New American Standard Bible
For You have turned a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt.
New Century Version
You have made the city a pile of rocks and have destroyed her walls. The city our enemies built with strong walls is gone; it will never be built again.
Amplified Bible
For You have made a city into a heap [of trash], A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of foreigners is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt.
World English Bible
For you have made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For thou hast made of a citie an heape, of a strong citie, a ruine: euen the palace of strangers of a citie, it shall neuer be built.
Legacy Standard Bible
For You have made a city into a heap,A fortified town into a ruin;A palace of strangers is a city no more,It will never be rebuilt.
Berean Standard Bible
Indeed, You have turned the city into a heap of rubble, a fortified town into ruins; the fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
Contemporary English Version
You have destroyed the fortress of our enemies, leaving their city in ruins. Nothing in that foreign city will ever be rebuilt.
Complete Jewish Bible
For you have made a city a heap of stones, turned a fortified city into rubble, made the foreigners' fortress a city that will never be rebuilt.
Darby Translation
For thou hast made of the city a heap, of the fortified town a ruin, the palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built up.
Easy-to-Read Version
And you destroyed the city that was protected by strong walls. Now it is only a pile of rocks. The foreign palace has been destroyed. It will never be rebuilt.
George Lamsa Translation
For thou hast reduced a city to a heap, the fortified city to a ruin; the palace of the strangers and the city are never to be built again.
Good News Translation
You have turned cities into ruins and destroyed their fortifications. The palaces which our enemies built are gone forever.
Lexham English Bible
For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the palace of foreigners is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.
Literal Translation
Because You have made a heap from a city, a fortified city into a ruin; a citadel of foreigners not to be a city, not to be built, to forever.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou makest of townes, heapes of stone: and of head cities, broken walles: The palaces of the wicked destroyest thou out of the citie, that they shal neuer be buylded againe.
American Standard Version
For thou hast made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
Bible in Basic English
For you have made a town a waste place: a strong town a mass of broken walls; the tower of the men of pride has come to an end; it will never be put up again.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For Thou hast made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin; a castle of strangers to be no city, it shall never be built.
King James Version (1611)
For thou hast made of a citie, an heape; of a defenced city, a ruine: a palace of strangers, to be no citie, it shall neuer be built.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou hast made a citie a heape of stones, and brought a strong towne into decay: the habitation of straungers hast thou made to be no citie, neither shall it be buylded any more.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For thou hast made cities a heap, even cities made strong that their foundations should not fall: the city of ungodly men shall not be built for ever.
English Revised Version
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.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Amen. For thou hast set the citee in to a biriel, a strong citee in to fallyng, the hous of aliens, that it be not a citee, and be not bildid with outen ende.
Update Bible Version
For you have made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
Webster's Bible Translation
For thou hast made of a city a heap; [of] a fortified city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
New English Translation
Indeed, you have made the city into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a heap of ruins; the fortress of foreigners is no longer a city, it will never be rebuilt.
New King James Version
For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt.
New Living Translation
You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.
New Life Bible
For You have laid waste a city. You have destroyed a strong city. The beautiful house of strangers is a city no more. And it will never be built again.
New Revised Standard
For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For thou hast made, of a citadel, a mound, of a defenced city, a ruin, - palaces for foreigners to be no city, To times age-abiding, shall it not be built.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be no more built up for ever.
Revised Standard Version
For thou hast made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.
Young's Literal Translation
For Thou didst make of a city a heap, Of a fenced city a ruin, A high place of strangers from [being] a city, To the age it is not built.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For You have made a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is a city no more, It will never be rebuilt.

Contextual Overview

1 God , you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you. You've done your share of miracle-wonders, well-thought-out plans, solid and sure. Here you've reduced the city to rubble, the strong city to a pile of stones. The enemy Big City is a non-city, never to be a city again. Superpowers will see it and honor you, brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence. They'll see that you take care of the poor, that you take care of poor people in trouble, Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather, provide a cool place when it's hot. Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert. But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun, shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For: Isaiah 25:12, Isaiah 14:23, Isaiah 17:1, Isaiah 21:9, Isaiah 23:13, Deuteronomy 13:16, Jeremiah 51:26, Nahum 3:12-15

palace: Isaiah 13:22, Revelation 18:2, Revelation 18:3, Revelation 18:19

Reciprocal: Joshua 8:28 - an heap Isaiah 24:10 - city Isaiah 27:10 - the defenced Isaiah 32:14 - the palaces Jeremiah 9:11 - Jerusalem Ezekiel 32:12 - they shall Micah 1:6 - I will make

Cross-References

Genesis 25:1
Abraham married a second time; his new wife was named Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Genesis 25:4
Midian had Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah—all from the line of Keturah.
Genesis 25:17
Ishmael lived 137 years. When he breathed his last and died he was buried with his family. His children settled down all the way from Havilah near Egypt eastward to Shur in the direction of Assyria. The Ishmaelites didn't get along with any of their kin.
Genesis 25:32
Esau said, "I'm starving! What good is a birthright if I'm dead?"
Genesis 25:33
Jacob said, "First, swear to me." And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That's how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.
Genesis 37:28
By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.
Genesis 37:36
In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs.
Numbers 22:4
Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: "Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean." Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland. Balak's emissaries said, "Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they're all over the place! And they're pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they're too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we'll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed." The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak's message. "Stay here for the night," Balaam said. "In the morning I'll deliver the answer that God gives me." The Moabite nobles stayed with him. Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?" Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'" God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others—they are a blessed people." The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you." So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us." Balak sent another group of nobles, higher ranking and more distinguished. They came to Balaam and said, "Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please, don't refuse to come to me. I will honor and reward you lavishly—anything you tell me to do, I'll do; I'll pay anything—only come and curse this people.'" Balaam answered Balak's servants: "Even if Balak gave me his house stuffed with silver and gold, I wouldn't be able to defy the orders of my God to do anything, whether big or little. But come along and stay with me tonight as the others did; I'll see what God will say to me this time." God came to Balaam that night and said, "Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you." Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went off with the noblemen from Moab. As he was going, though, God's anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road. But as they were going through a vineyard, with a fence on either side, the donkey again saw God 's angel blocking the way and veered into the fence, crushing Balaam's foot against the fence. Balaam hit her again. God 's angel blocked the way yet again—a very narrow passage this time; there was no getting through on the right or left. Seeing the angel, Balaam's donkey sat down under him. Balaam lost his temper; he beat the donkey with his stick. Then God gave speech to the donkey. She said to Balaam: "What have I ever done to you that you have beat me these three times?" Balaam said, "Because you've been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your trusty donkey on whom you've ridden for years right up until now? Have I ever done anything like this to you before? Have I?" He said, "No." Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God 's angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt. God 's angel said to him: "Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you're getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off." Balaam said to God 's angel, "I have sinned. I had no idea you were standing in the road blocking my way. If you don't like what I'm doing, I'll head back." But God 's angel said to Balaam, "Go ahead and go with them. But only say what I tell you to say—absolutely no other word." And so Balaam continued to go with Balak's nobles. When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him in the Moabite town that was on the banks of the Arnon, right on the boundary of his land. Balak said to Balaam, "Didn't I send an urgent message for help? Why didn't you come when I called? Do you think I can't pay you enough?" Balaam said to Balak, "Well, I'm here now. But I can't tell you just anything. I can speak only words that God gives me—no others." Balaam then accompanied Balak to Kiriath Huzoth (Street-Town). Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep for sacrifices and presented them to Balaam and the nobles who were with him. At daybreak Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal (The Heights of Baal) so that he could get a good view of some of the people.
Job 2:11
Three of Job's friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath—and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn't believe what they saw—they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For thou hast made of a city an heap,.... Which is to be understood, not of Samaria, nor of Jerusalem; rather of Babylon; though it is best to interpret it of the city of Rome, as Jerom says the Jews do; though they generally explain it of many cities, which shall be destroyed in the times of Gog and Magog, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and so the Targum has it in the plural number; perhaps not only the city of Rome, but all the antichristian states, the cities of the nations, all within the Romish jurisdiction are meant; which shall all fall by the earthquake, sooner or later, and become a heap:

[of] a defenced city, a ruin; or, "for a fall" c; the same thing is meant as before: it designs the fall of mystical Babylon or Rome, called the great and mighty city, Revelation 18:2:

a palace of strangers; which Kimchi interprets of Babylon, which, he says, was a palace to the cities of the Gentiles, who are called strangers; and it is said, that that city was originally built for strangers, that dwelt in tents, in Arabia Deserts; but it is best to understand it of Rome, as before, which is the palace of such who are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, who have introduced a strange religion, and are the worshippers of strange gods, Daniel 11:38. The Targum renders it,

"the house of the gods of the people in the city of Jerusalem;''

and this will be made

to be no city, it shall never be built; any more, when once it is destroyed, signified by the angels casting a millstone into the sea, which shall never be taken up again, or found more, Revelation 18:21.

c למפלה "in lapsum".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For thou hast made - This is supposed to be uttered by the Jews who should return from Babylon, and therefore refers to what would have been seen by them. In their time it would have occurred that God had made of the city an heap.

Of a city - I suppose the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand this of Babylon. There has been, however, a great variety of interpretation of this passage. Grotius supposed that Samaria was intended. Calvin that the word is used collectively, and that various cities are intended. Piscator that Rome, the seat of antichrist, was intended. Jerome says that the Jews generally understand it of Rome. Aben Ezra and Kimchi, however, understand it to refer to many cities which they say will be destroyed in the times of Gog and Magog. Nearly all these opinions may be seen subjected to an examination, and shown to be unfounded, in Vitringa.

An heap - It is reduced to ruins (see the notes at Isaiah 13:0; Isaiah 14:0) The ruin of Babylon commenced when it was taken by Cyrus, and the Jews were set at liberty; it was not completed until many centuries after. The form of the Hebrew here is, ‘Thou hast placed from a city to a ruin:’ that is, thou hast changed it from being a city to a pile of ruins.

Of a defensed city - A city fortified, and made strong against the approach of an enemy. How true this was of Babylon may be seen in the description prefixed to Isaiah 13:0.

A palace - This word properly signifies the residence of a prince or monarch Jeremiah 30:18; Amos 1:4, Amos 1:7, Amos 1:10, Amos 1:12. Here it is applied to Babylon on account of its splendor, as if it were a vast palace, the residence of princes.

Of strangers - Foreigners; a term often given to the inhabitants of foreign lands, and especially to the Babylonians (see the note at Isaiah 1:7; compare Ezekiel 28:7; Joel 3:17). It means that this was, by way of eminence, The city of the foreigners; the capital of the whole Pagan world; the city where foreigners congregated and dwelt.

It shall never be built - (See the notes at Isaiah 13:19-22)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 25:2. A city - "The city"] Nineveh, Babylon, Ar, Moab, or any other strong fortress possessed by the enemies of the people of God.

For the first מעיר meir, of a city, the Syriac and Vulgate read העיר hair, the city; the Septuagint and Chaldee read ערים arim, cities, in the plural, transposing the letters. After the second מעיר meir, a MS. adds לגל lagol, for a heap.

A palace of strangers - "The palace of the proud ones"] For זרים zarim, strangers, MS. Bodl. and another read זדים zedim, the proud: so likewise the Septuagint; for they render it ασεβων here, and in Isaiah 25:5, as they do in some other places: see Deuteronomy 18:20; Deuteronomy 18:22. Another MS. reads צרים tsarim, adversaries; which also makes a good sense. But זרים zarim, strangers, and זדים zedim, the proud, are often confounded by the great similitude of the letters ד daleth and ר resh. See Malachi 3:15; Malachi 4:1; Psalms 19:14, in the Septuagint; and Psalms 54:5, where the Chaldee reads זדים zedim, compared with Psalms 86:16.


 
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