Isaiah 25:3-4

25:3 So a strong nation will extol you;

the towns of ¹  powerful nations will fear you.

25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,

a protector for the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm,

a shade from the heat.

Though the breath of tyrants ²  is like a winter rainstorm, ³ 

[25:3]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse.

[25:4]  ² tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”

[25:4]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.