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 this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel, and have come from the sperm of Judah; you who swear by the name of Yahweh and invoke the God of Israel, but not sincerely nor in a righteous manner.

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 they call themselves people of the holy city and trust in the God of Israel. Yahweh 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.

“I have declared the things from long ago; they came out from my mouth, and I made them known; then suddenly I did 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 you were obstinate, your neck muscles tight as iron, and your forehead like bronze,

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!

therefore I declared these things to you beforehand; before they happened I informed you, so you could not say, 'My idol has done them,' or 'My carved figure and my cast metal figure has ordained these things.'

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.

You heard about these things; look at all this evidence; and you, will you not admit what I said is true? From now on, I am showing you new things, hidden things that you have 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, and not from previously, they come into being, and before today you have not heard about them, so you will not be able to say, 'Yes, I knew about 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.

You never heard; you did not know; these things were not unfolded to your ears beforehand. For I knew that you have been very deceitful, and that you have been a rebel from 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 I will defer my anger, and for my honor I will hold back from destroying you.

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

Look, I refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace 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, for my own sake I will act; for how can I allow my name to be profaned? I will not give my glory to anyone else.

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

Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: 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

Yes, my hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up 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 listen! Who among you has announced these things? Yahweh's ally will accomplish his purpose against Babylon. He will carry out Yahweh's will against 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, I have spoken, yes, I have summoned him, I have brought him, and he will succeed.

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 near to me, listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there.” Now the Lord Yahweh has 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.

This is what Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says, “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you by the way that you should 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:

If only you had obeyed my commandments! Then your peace and prosperity would have flowed like a river, and your salvation like 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.

Your descendants would have been as numerous as the sand, and the children from your womb as numerous as the grains of sand; their name would not have been cut off nor blotted out 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!

Come out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With the sound of a ringing cry announce it! Make this known, make it go out to the ends of the earth! Say, 'Yahweh has 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:

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

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

There is no peace for the wicked—says Yahweh.”