Isaiah 48

1 “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the spring of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, —not in truth, nor in righteousness.

2 who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

For of the holy city they call themselves, and upon the God of Israel they stay themselves, —The Lord of hosts is his name.

3 I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

The former things have I declared from the beginning; and out of my mouth went they forth, and I announced them: suddenly did I accomplish them, and they came to pass;

4 For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, that like an iron sinew is thy neck, and thy brow of copper;

5 Therefore I declared it to you long ago; I announced it before it came to pass, so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this; my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’

And I declared it to thee from the beginning; before yet it came to pass did I let thee hear it: lest thou should say, My idol hath done these things, and my graven image, and my molten image, have ordained them.

6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.

Thou hast heard it; see it all now; and you—will you not declare it? I caused thee to hear new things, from this time, even hidden things which thou hadst not known.

7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot claim, ‘I already knew them!’

Now are they created, and not from the beginning; and before the day [that I announced them] thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.

But neither hadst thou heard it; nor didst thou know; nor had in ancient times thy ear been opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and a transgressor wast thou called from thy birth.

9 For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath; for the sake of My praise I will restrain it, so that you will not be cut off.

For the sake of my name will I defer my anger, and because of my praise will I restrain it toward thee, so that I may not cut thee off.

10 See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Behold, I have refined thee, though not into silver: I have approved thee in the crucible of affliction.

11 For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.

For my own sake will I do it: for how would [my name] be dishonored? and my glory will I not give unto another.

12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.

Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called one; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.

My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned out the heavens: I call unto them, they stand forward together.

14 Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear: Who among them hath told these things? He whom the Lord loveth, will do his pleasure on Babylon, and [display] his arm [on] the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.

I, even I, have spoken it, I have also called him: I have brought him, and he shall be prosperous on his way.

16 Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; never from the beginning have I spoken in secret; from the time that it occurred, was I there. And now the Lord Eternal hath sent me, and his Spirit.

17 Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.

Thus hath said the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God who teach thee for thy profit, who lead thee by the way thou shouldst go.

18 If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

Oh that thou hadst but listened to my commandments! then would have been as a river thy peace, and thy prosperity as the waves of the sea:

19 Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”

And then would have been as the sand thy seed, and the offspring of thy body like the pebbles of the sea-shore; yet shall his name not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

Go forth out of Babylon, flee away from the Chaldeans, with the voice of singing declare, announce this, carry it forth as far as the end of the earth; say, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; waters out of the rock he let drop down for them: and he cleaved the rock, and the waters gushed out.

22 “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.