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He 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.
Isaiah 25:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands.
  • NASB And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
  • NLT God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Though Moab struggles like a swimmer to save himself, God will bring down his pride and cunning. Human effort cannot rescue the proud from God's hand.

Overview

Moab spreads his hands as one swimming in the filth, but his pride is laid low along with all his skill. The futile struggle shows that no cleverness escapes God's judgment. The verse warns that self-reliant pride only sinks deeper under the Lord's hand.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Isa 14:26This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
  • Isa 2:11The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
  • Isa 16:6We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
  • Isa 16:14And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”
  • Isa 5:25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
  • Isa 65:2All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
  • Col 2:15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
  • Jer 51:44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
  • Jer 50:31–32“Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
  • Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
  • Jas 4:6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Jer 48:42Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
  • Isa 10:33Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
  • Isa 13:11I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
  • Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
  • Ps 2:5Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:
  • Isa 25:5like 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.
  • Rev 19:18–20so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”
  • Ps 110:1–7A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
  • Jer 48:29We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
  • Ps 2:8–12Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
  • Rev 18:6–8Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 25:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 25:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.