Isaiah 48

1 "Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of YHWH, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness

Give ear to this, O family of Jacob, you who are named by the name of Israel, and have come out of the body of Judah; who take oaths by the name of the Lord, and make use of the name of the God of Israel, but not truly and not in good faith.

2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; YHWH of hosts is his name):

For they say that they are of the holy town, and put their faith in the God of Israel: the Lord of armies is his name.

3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they happened.

I gave word in the past of the things which came about; they came from my mouth, and I made them clear: suddenly I did them, and they came about.

4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;

Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;

5 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.'

For this reason I made it clear to you in the past, before it came I gave you word of it: for fear that you might say, My god did these things, and my pictured and metal images made them come about.

6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge.

7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you did not hear them; lest you should say, 'Look, I knew them.'

They have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of them.

8 Yes, you did not hear; yes, you did not know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.

Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.

9 For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.

Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.

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

See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.

For myself, even because of my name, I will do it; for I will not let my name be shamed; and my glory I will not give to another.

12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; I am he, I am the first and I am the last.

13 Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

Yes, by my hand was the earth placed on its base, and by my right hand the heavens were stretched out; at my word they take up their places.

14 "Let all of them assemble and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom YHWH loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

Come together, all of you, and give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

I, even I, have given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.

16 "Come near to me and hear this: "From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I." Now YHWH has sent me, with his Spirit.

Come near to me, and give ear to this; from the start I did not keep it secret; from the time of its coming into existence I was there: and now the Lord God has sent me, and given me his spirit.

17 Thus says YHWH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am YHWH your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.

The Lord who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, I am the Lord your God, who is teaching you for your profit, guiding you by the way in which you are to go.

18 But would that you had listened to my commandments. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 Your descendants would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains; his name not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

Your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.

20 Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say, YHWH has redeemed his servant Jacob.

Go out of Babylon, go in flight from the Chaldaeans; with the sound of song make it clear, give the news, let the word go out even to the end of the earth: say, The Lord has taken up the cause of his servant Jacob.

21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

They had no need of water when he was guiding them through the waste lands: he made water come out of the rock for them: the rock was parted and the waters came flowing out.

22 "There is no peace," says YHWH, "for the wicked."

There is no peace, says the Lord, for the evil-doers.