Isaiah 48

1 [Yahweh says], “You descendants [MTY] of Jacob, who are [also] descendants of Judah and are now called [the people of] Israel, Listen to me! You make solemn promises using my name, Yahweh, and you request that I, the God to whom you Israeli people belong, [will hear you], but you do not do it sincerely.

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And from the waters of Judah came out, Who are swearing by the name of Jehovah, And of the God of Israel make mention, Not in truth nor in righteousness.

2 You say that you live in the holy city [of Jerusalem], and [you insincerely say] that you are relying on me, the God to whom you [people of] Israel belong, the one who is the Commander of the armies of angels.

For from the Holy City they have been called, And on the God of Israel been supported, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

3 Long ago I [MTY] predicted what would happen [DOU]. And then suddenly, I caused those things to happen.

The former things from that time I declared, And from my mouth they have gone forth, And I proclaim them, Suddenly I have done, and it cometh.

4 I knew that you people are very stubborn; I knew that your heads are [MET] [as hard as] iron or brass [DOU].

From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,

5 That is why I told you those things long ago. Long before they occurred, I announced that they would occur, in order that [when they happened] you could not say ‘Our idols did it; our statue made of wood and our idol made of metal caused them to happen.’

And I declare to thee from that time, Before it cometh I have caused thee to hear, Lest thou say, 'Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image, And my molten image did command them.

6 You have heard those things [that I predicted] and now you have seen that they have all occurred, so why do you not admit it [RHQ]? Now I will tell you new things, things that you have not known previously.

Thou hast heard, see the whole of it, And ye, do ye not declare? I have caused thee to hear new things from this time, And things reserved that ye knew not.

7 I am causing them to happen now; they are not things I did long ago. So you cannot say, ‘We already knew about those things.’

Now they have been produced and not from that time, Yea, before the day, and thou hast not heard them, Lest thou say, 'Lo, I have known them.'

8 [I will tell you about] things that you have never heard about or understood before. Even long ago you did not pay attention to me [IDM]. I know that you act very deceitfully/treacherously; you have rebelled against me since you first became a nation [MTY].

Yea, thou hast not heard, Yea, thou hast not known, Yea, from that time not opened hath thine ear, For I have known thou dealest treacherously, And 'Transgressor from the belly,' One is crying to thee.

9 But, for my own sake, in order that I will be honored, I will not punish [MTY] you immediately and I will not completely get rid of you.

For My name's sake I defer Mine anger, And My praise I restrain for thee, So as not to cut thee off.

10 I have purified you, but not the way [people refine] silver. Instead, I have caused you to suffer very much [to get rid of your impure behavior], like [MET] [people put metal in a very hot] furnace [to get rid of the impurities].

Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction.

11 But for my [MTY] own sake I will delay punishing you more; I will do it for my own sake in order that my reputation will not be damaged [RHQ]. I will not allow any [person or any idol] to be honored as I [deserve to be] honored.”

For My sake, for Mine own sake, I do [it], For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not.

12 “You descendants [MTY] of Jacob, you people of Israel whom I have chosen, listen to me! [Only] I am God; I am the one who begins everything and who causes everything to end.

Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called one, I [am] He, I [am] first, and I [am] last;

13 I [SYN] am the one who laid the foundation of the earth. I stretched out the sky with my hand. And when I tell [the stars] to appear, they all do what I tell them.

Also, My hand hath founded earth, And My right hand stretched out the heavens, I am calling unto them, they stand together.

14 All of you, gather together and listen to me. None of your idols has [RHQ] told this to you: I, Yahweh, have chosen [Cyrus] to assist me, and he will do to Babylon what I want him to do, and his army will get rid of [the army of] Babylonia.

Be gathered all of you, and hear, Who among them did declare these things? Jehovah hath loved him, He doth His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm [is on] the Chaldeans.

15 I have said it; I have summoned [Cyrus]. I have appointed him, and he will accomplish everything that he attempts to do.

I — I have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him in, And he hath made prosperous his way.

16 Come close to me and listen to what I say. Long ago [MTY] I told you plainly/clearly [LIT] [what would happen], and when those things occurred, I was [causing them to happen].” And now Yahweh the Lord and his Spirit have sent me [to give you a message].

Come ye near unto me, hear this, Not from the beginning in secret spake I, From the time of its being, there [am] I, And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit.

17 This is what Yahweh, the one who saves you, the Holy God of [us] Israelis, says: “I am Yahweh, your God; I teach you what is important for you [to know]; I direct you and lead you to the roads that you should walk on [MET].

Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, 'I [am] Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, Causing thee to tread in the way thou goest.

18 I wish that you had paid attention to my commands! If you had done that, things would have gone well for you like [SIM] a river that flows gently; you would have been successful again and again, like [SIM] waves that come without ceasing.

O that thou hadst attended to My commands, Then as a river is thy peace, And thy righteousness as billows of the sea,

19 Your descendants would have been [as many as] [MET] the grains of sand [on the seashore] [which no one can count]. I would not have needed to get rid of you; the country of [MTY] [Israel] would not have been destroyed.”

And as sand is thy seed, And the offspring of thy bowels as its gravel, Not cut off nor destroyed his name before Me.

20 [However, now I tell you], leave Babylon! Flee from [being slaves of the people of] Babylonia! Proclaim this message joyfully; send it to the most remote/distant places on the earth: Yahweh freed the people of Israel [from being slaves in Egypt].

Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, With a voice of singing declare, Cause ye this to be heard, Bring it forth unto the end of the earth, Say, Redeemed hath Jehovah His servant Jacob.

21 They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert, because he split open the rock and caused water to gush/flow out for them [to drink].

And they have not thirsted in waste places, He hath caused them to go on, Waters from a rock he hath caused to flow to them, Yea, he cleaveth a rock, and flow do waters.

22 “But things will not go well [like that] for wicked people,” says Yahweh.

There is no peace, said Jehovah, to the wicked!