Isaiah 48

1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And from the waters of Judah came out, Who are swearing by the Name of YHWH, And make mention of the God of Israel, Not in truth nor in righteousness.

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.

2 For they have been called from the Holy City, And been supported on the God of Israel, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.

For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name.

3 I declared the former things from that time, And they have gone forth from My mouth, And I proclaim them, Suddenly I have done, and it comes.

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.

4 From My knowing that you are obstinate, And your neck—a sinew of iron, And your forehead—bronze,

For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass.

5 And from that time I declare [it] to you, Before it comes I have caused you to hear, Lest you say, My idol has done them, And my carved image, And my molten image commanded them.

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.

6 You have heard, see the whole of it, And you, do you not declare? I have caused you to hear new things from this time, And things reserved that you did not know.

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:

7 Now they have been produced and not from that time, Indeed, before the day, and you have not heard them, Lest you say, Behold, I have known them.

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.

8 Indeed, you have not heard, Indeed, you have not known, Indeed, your ear has not opened from that time, For I have known you deal treacherously, And [are] a transgressor from the belly, One is crying to you.

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.

9 I defer My anger for My Name’s sake, And [for] My praise I restrain for you, So as not to cut you off.

For my name’s sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish.

10 Behold, I have refined you, and not with silver, I have chosen you in a furnace of affliction.

Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty.

11 For My sake, for My own sake, I do [it], For how is it defiled? And I do not give My glory to another.

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.

12 Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called one, I [am] He, I [am] first, and I [am] last;

Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he, I am the first, and I am the last.

13 Also, My hand has founded earth, And My right hand stretched out the heavens, I am calling to them, they stand together.

My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together.

14 Be gathered, all of you, and hear, Who among them declared these things? YHWH has loved him, He does His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm [is on] the Chaldeans.

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.

15 I have spoken, indeed, I have called him, I have brought him in, And he has made his way prosperous.

I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous.

16 Come near to Me, hear this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, From the time of its being, I [am] there, And now Lord YHWH has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

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.

17 Thus said YHWH, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I [am] your God YHWH, teaching you to profit, Causing you to tread in the way you go.

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.

18 O that you had attended to My commands, Then your peace is as a river, And your righteousness as billows of the sea,

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea,

19 And your seed is as sand, And the offspring of your bowels as gravel, His name would not be cut off nor destroyed before Me.”

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.

20 Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, Declare with a voice of singing, Cause this to be heard, Bring it forth to the end of the earth, Say, “YHWH has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

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.

21 And they have not thirsted in wastelands, He has caused them to go on, He has caused waters from a rock to flow to them, Indeed, he cleaves a rock, and waters flow.

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.

22 “There is no peace,” said YHWH, “for the wicked!”

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