Isaiah 48
1 Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice.
Listen to this, descendants of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and who come from the lineage of Judah. Listen, you people who swear by the name of the Lord, or who invoke the God of Israel, but not truly or sincerely.
2 For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name.
You say you're from the “Holy City,” and claim you're trusting in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
3 The former things of old I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them suddenly and they came to pass.
I predicted long ago what was going to happen—I said it and let people know. Then suddenly I decided to act, and it all came true.
4 For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass.
I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.
5 I foretold thee of old, before they came to pass I told thee, lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them.
I predicted these things to you long ago, before they happened. I explained them to you so that you couldn't say “My idol did this,” or “My image and my metal god ordered this to happen.”
6 See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and things are kept which thou knowest not:
You've heard all I predicted, and seen it happen. Won't you admit it? Now I'm going to tell you new things, secrets you don't know anything about.
7 They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them.
These are brand-new, not something from the past. Before today you won't have heard anything about them, so you can't say, “Oh yes, I know about that.”
8 Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb.
No, you've never heard that, and you've never known that! Nobody's told you about that before! I know how deviously you operate—you're called “rebels from birth”!
9 For my name’s sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish.
But because of my nature I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.
10 Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty.
Look how I've refined you, but not like silver—I chose you in the furnace of trouble.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another.
The reason I'm doing this is because of who I am, yes, because of my very nature. I won't let my reputation be damaged—I won't let anyone else have it.
12 Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he, I am the first, and I am the last.
Listen to me, Jacon, and Israel, the one I called. Only I am God. I am the first, and I am the last.
13 My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together.
I laid the foundations of the earth with my own hands; I personally spread out the heavens. When I call the stars, they all take their positions.
14 Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Everyone gather round and listen. Which of your “gods” told you anything like this? The one the Lord loves will carry out the Lord's wishes against Babylon—he will attack the Babylonians.
15 I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous.
I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.
16 Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit.
Come close to me, and listen to this. From the very beginning I haven't spoken in secret; I am always there right when it happens. Now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me to tell you this:
17 Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest.
This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God. I am the one who teaches you what is good for you, who leads you along the way you should go.
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea,
If you had only listened carefully to what I told you! Then your blessings would have flowed like a river, and goodness would have washed over you like the waves of the sea.
19 And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face.
Your children, your descendants, would have been like all those grains of sand. They wouldn't have had to be destroyed, wiped out before me.
20 Come forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
Leave Babylon! Run away from Babylonia with happy shouts! Let everyone know, telling the whole earth, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out.
They weren't thirsty when he led them through the desert—he made water come out of the rock for them. He split the rock open and water poured out.
22 There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.
The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.
