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

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 call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; YHWH 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 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 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 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;

I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.

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.'

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 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.

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 from of old; and before this day you did not hear them; lest you should say, 'Look, 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 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.

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 will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.

But because of my nature I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.

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

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; for how should my name be profaned? 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 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also 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 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.

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 "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.

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

I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.

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 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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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," says YHWH, "for the wicked."

The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.