Praise for Deliverance from Oppression

1O LORD, you are my God;

I will exalt you, I will praise your name;

for you have done wonderful things,

plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

2For 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.

3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

4For you have been a refuge to the poor,

a refuge to the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.

When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,

5the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,

you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;

the song of the ruthless was stilled.

6On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,

of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.

7And he will destroy on this mountain

the shroud that is cast over all peoples,

the sheet that is spread over all nations;

8he will swallow up death for ever.

Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces,

and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the LORD has spoken.

9It will be said on that day,

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.

This is the LORD for whom we have waited;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.

The Moabites shall be trodden down in their place

as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.

11Though they spread out their hands in the midst of it,

as swimmers spread out their hands to swim,

their pride will be laid low despite the struggle25.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain of their hands.

12The high fortifications of his walls will be brought down,

laid low, cast to the ground, even to the dust.