Isaiah 25:11

Moab ¹  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ²  just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord ³  will bring down Moab’s ⁴  pride as it spreads its hands. ⁵ 

They will spread out their hands in it, as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands.

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.

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.

Thrash away as they will, like swimmers trying to stay afloat, They'll sink in the sewage. Their pride will pull them under.

And if he puts out his hands, like a man stretching out his hands in swimming, the Lord will make low his pride, however expert his designs.

Though 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 struggle of their hands.

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.

Moab ¹  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ²  just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord ³  will bring down Moab’s ⁴  pride as it spreads its hands. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (’arav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.