Chiastic Structures
The Old Testament
Chiastic Parallels
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A

1 In that day you will say,
O Jehovah, you are my God; I will extol you by praising your name.
For with perfect faithfulness you have performed wonders,
things planned of old.

B

2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
fortified towns a ruin— heathen mansions shall no more form cities,
nor ever be rebuilt! 3 For this will powerful peoples revere you,
a community of tyrannous nations fear you. 4 You were a refuge for the poor,
a shelter for the needy in distress, a covert from the downpour
and shade from the heat. When the blasts of tyrants beat down
like torrents against a wall,

C

5 or like scorching heat in the desert, you quelled the onslaughts of the heathen:
as burning heat by the shade of a cloud, you subdued the power of tyrants.

D

6 In this mountain will Jehovah of Hosts prepare
a sumptuous feast for all peoples, a feast of leavened cakes, succulent and delectable,
of matured wines well refined. 7 In this mountain

E

he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples, the shroud that shrouds all nations,
8 by abolishing Death forever. My Lord Jehovah will wipe away
the tears from all faces; he will remove the reproach of his people
from throughout the earth. Jehovah has spoken it.

E'

9 In that day you will say, This is our God,
whom we expected would save us. This is Jehovah for whom we have waited;
let us joyfully celebrate his salvation!

D'

10 For in this mountain rests the hand of Jehovah,
and under him Moab shall be trampled down as straw is trampled in a dung pit.

C'

11 For when he stretches his hands
into the midst of it, as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim,
he will pull down his pride in the attempt. 12 Your highly walled fortifications
he will lay low by razing them to the ground, even with the dust.

B'

1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:

Our city is strong; salvation he has set up
as walls and barricades!

A'

2 Open the gates to let in the nation
righteous because it keeps faith.