Isaiah 48

1 Hear ye this—O house of Jacob, Ye who call yourselves by the name of Israel, Yea from the waters of Judah, came they forth, —Who swear by the name of Yahweh, And, by the God of Israel, call to remembrance—Not in truth, nor in righteousness;

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the spring of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, —not in truth, nor in righteousness.

2 For of the holy city, do they call themselves, And on the God of Israel, do they stay themselves, —Yahweh of hosts, is his name.

For of the holy city they call themselves, and upon the God of Israel they stay themselves, —The Lord of hosts is his name.

3 Things in advance, of old, I declared, Yea out of mine own mouth, came they forth, that I might let them be known, —Suddenly, I wrought and they came to pass.

The former things have I declared from the beginning; and out of my mouth went they forth, and I announced them: suddenly did I accomplish them, and they came to pass;

4 Because I knew that—Obstinate, thou wast, —And, a sinew of iron, was thy neck, And thy brow, brazen,

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, that like an iron sinew is thy neck, and thy brow of copper;

5 therefore told I thee—in time past, Ere yet it came, I let thee hear, —Lest thou shouldest say Mine idol wrought them, Yea, my carved image and my molten image, commanded them!

And I declared it to thee from the beginning; before yet it came to pass did I let thee hear it: lest thou should say, My idol hath done these things, and my graven image, and my molten image, have ordained them.

6 Thou hast heard—see it whole, And will, ye, not tell? I have let thee hear new things—from the present time, Even secrets which ye knew not.

Thou hast heard it; see it all now; and you—will you not declare it? I caused thee to hear new things, from this time, even hidden things which thou hadst not known.

7 Now, are they created, and not in time past, And, before to-day, thou hadst not heard of them, —Lest thou shouldest say, Lo! I knew them!

Now are they created, and not from the beginning; and before the day [that I announced them] thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 Nay! thou hadst not heard, Nay! thou hadst not known, Nay! in time past, thine ear, was not opened, —For I knew that thou, wouldst be treacherous, Yea a transgressor from birth, hast thou been called.

But neither hadst thou heard it; nor didst thou know; nor had in ancient times thy ear been opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and a transgressor wast thou called from thy birth.

9 For the sake of mine own Name, will I defer mine anger, And for my praise, will I restrain myself towards thee, —So as not to cut thee off.

For the sake of my name will I defer my anger, and because of my praise will I restrain it toward thee, so that I may not cut thee off.

10 Lo! I have refined thee, but not as silver, —I have tested thee, in a smelting-pot of affliction.

Behold, I have refined thee, though not into silver: I have approved thee in the crucible of affliction.

11 For mine own sake—for mine own sake, will I effectually work For how should it be profaned? And, my glory—to another, will I not give.

For my own sake will I do it: for how would [my name] be dishonored? and my glory will I not give unto another.

12 Hearken unto me O Jacob, And Israel, my called one, —I, am, the Same I, the first, yea, I, the last:

Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called one; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Surely, mine own hand, founded the earth, And, my right hand, stretched out the heavens, —While I was calling unto them, they stood forth, at once

My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned out the heavens: I call unto them, they stand forward together.

14 Assemble yourselves—all of you and hear, Who among them, hath told these things? he whom Yahweh loveth, will execute—His pleasure, on Babylon, And his stroke on the Chaldeans.

Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear: Who among them hath told these things? He whom the Lord loveth, will do his pleasure on Babylon, and [display] his arm [on] the Chaldeans.

15 I—I, have spoken, Yea I have called him, —I have brought him in, and he shall make prosperous his way.

I, even I, have spoken it, I have also called him: I have brought him, and he shall be prosperous on his way.

16 Draw ye near unto me—hear ye this, Not in advance in secret, have I spoken, From the very time it cometh into being, there, am I, —And, now, My Lord Yahweh hath sent me and his spirit.

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; never from the beginning have I spoken in secret; from the time that it occurred, was I there. And now the Lord Eternal hath sent me, and his Spirit.

17 Thus saith Yahweh—Thy Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, —I—Yahweh, am thy God, Teaching thee to profit, Guiding thee in the way thou shouldest go.

Thus hath said the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God who teach thee for thy profit, who lead thee by the way thou shouldst go.

18 Oh! that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments, —Then had been, like a river, thy prosperity, And, thy righteousness, like the waves of the sea:

Oh that thou hadst but listened to my commandments! then would have been as a river thy peace, and thy prosperity as the waves of the sea:

19 Then had been, like the sand, thy seed, And, the offspring of thy body, like the grains thereof, —Neither cut off nor destroyed had been his name from before me.

And then would have been as the sand thy seed, and the offspring of thy body like the pebbles of the sea-shore; yet shall his name not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Come ye forth out of Babylon, Flee from among the Chaldeans, With triumphant voice, tell ye—let this be heard, Let it go forth as far as the end of the earth, —Say ye—Yahweh hath redeemed his servant Jacob!

Go forth out of Babylon, flee away from the Chaldeans, with the voice of singing declare, announce this, carry it forth as far as the end of the earth; say, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

21 And they thirsted not, when, through dry places, he led them, Waters out of the rock, caused he to flow out to them, —Yea be cleft a rock and, there gushed out waters:

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; waters out of the rock he let drop down for them: and he cleaved the rock, and the waters gushed out.

22 No well-being, saith Yahweh to the lawless,

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