Isaiah 48

1 Hear this, O house of Jacob! Ye that are called by the name of Israel; Ye that have come forth from the fountain of Judah; Ye that swear by the name of Jehovah, And praise the God of Israel, But not in truth and sincerity!

Listen to these things, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and who went forth from the waters of Judah. You swear by the name of the Lord and you call to mind the God of Israel, but not in truth, and not in justice.

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, And stay themselves on the God of Israel, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts: —

For they have been called from the holy city, and they have been founded upon the God of Israel. The Lord of hosts is his name.

3 What hath happened I declared to you long ago; From my mouth it proceeded, and I made it known; On a sudden I effected it, and it came to pass.

From that time, I announced the former things. They went forth from my mouth, and I have caused them to be heard. I wrought these things suddenly, and they were fulfilled.

4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, And that thy neck is a bar of iron, And that thy brow is brass,

For I knew that you are stubborn, and that your neck is like an iron sinew, and that your forehead is like brass.

5 I declared it to thee long ago; Before it came to pass, I made it known to thee; Lest thou shouldst say, My idol effected it, And my graven image, and my molten image ordained it.

From that time, I foretold to you. Before these things happened, I revealed them to you, lest you say: “My idols have accomplished these things, and my graven and molten images have commanded them.”

6 Thou hast heard it; now see it all! And will ye not confess it? From this time I make you hear a new thing, Even a hidden thing, which thou hast not known.

See all the things that you have heard. But were you the ones who announced them? From that time, I caused you to hear about new things, and you do not know how these were preserved.

7 It is produced now, and not long ago; Before this day thou hast not heard of it, Lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew it.

They are created now, and not in that time. And even before today, you did not hear of them; otherwise, you might say, “Behold, I knew them.”

8 Yea, thou heardest it not; yea, thou knewest it not; Yea, it was not disclosed to thee long ago; For I knew that thou wast wholly faithless, And wast called rebellious from thy birth.

You have neither heard, nor known, nor were your ears open in that time. For I knew that you would transgress greatly, and so I called you a transgressor from the womb.

9 For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, And for the sake of my praise I will restrain it from thee, That I may not utterly cut thee off.

For the sake of my name, I will take the face of my fury far away. And for the sake of my praise, I will bridle you, lest you perish.

10 Behold, I have melted thee, and found no silver; I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction.

Behold, I have refined you, but not like silver. I have chosen you for the furnace of poverty.

11 For mine own sake will I do it; For how would my name be blasphemed? And my glory will I not give to another.

For my sake, for my own sake, I will do it, so that I may not be blasphemed. For I will not give my glory to another.

12 Hearken to me, O Jacob, And Israel, whom I have called! I am He, I am the first, and I the last.

Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel whom I call. I am the same, I am the first, and I am the last.

13 Yea, my hand hath founded the earth, And my right hand hath spread out the heavens; I called them; they stood forth together.

Also, my hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has measured the heavens. I will call them, and they will stand together.

14 Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among you hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth will execute his pleasure upon Babylon, And his power upon the Chaldaeans.

Gather together, all of you, and listen. Who among them has announced these things? The Lord has loved him; he will do his will with Babylon, and his arm is upon the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and his way shall be prosperous.

I am, I have spoken, and I have called him. I have led him forward, and his way has been straight.

16 Draw near to me, and hear ye this! I spake not in secret from the beginning; And since it began to be, I have been there; And now hath the Lord Jehovah sent me with his spirit.

Draw near to me, and listen to this. From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the time before it happened, I was there. And now, the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.

17 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am Jehovah, thy God, who teacheth thee what will profit thee; Who leadeth thee in the way thou shouldst go.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you beneficial things, who guides you in the way that you walk.

18 O that thou wouldst hearken to my commandments! Then shall thy peace be as a river, And thy prosperity as the waves of the sea;

If only you had paid attention to my commandments! Your peace would have been like a river, and your justice would have been like the waves of the sea,

19 Then shall thy posterity be as the sand, And the fruit of thy body as the offspring of the sea; Thy name shall not be cut off, nor destroyed before me.

and your offspring would have been like the sand, and the stock from your loins would have been like its stones. His name would not have passed away, nor would it have been worn away before my face.

20 Come ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the land of the Chaldaeans with the voice of joy! Publish ye this, and make it known; Let it resound to the ends of the earth! Say: “Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob;

Depart from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Announce it with a voice of exultation. Cause it to be heard, and carry it even to the ends of the earth. Say: “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”

21 They thirst not in the deserts through which he leadeth them; Waters from the rock he causeth to flow for them; He cleaveth the rock, and the waters gush forth.

They did not thirst in the desert, when he led them out. He produced water from the rock for them. For he split the rock, and the waters flowed out.

22 There is no peace, saith Jehovah, for the wicked.”

“There is no peace for the impious,” says the Lord.