Isaiah 48

1 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.

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!

2 For they call themselves people of the holy city and trust in the God of Israel. Yahweh of hosts is his name.

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

3 “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.

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.

4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, your neck muscles tight as iron, and your forehead like bronze,

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

5 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.'

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.

6 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.

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.

7 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.'

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.

8 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.

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.

9 For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, and for my honor I will hold back from destroying you.

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.

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

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

11 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.

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

12 Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

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

13 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.

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

14 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.

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.

15 I, I have spoken, yes, I have summoned him, I have brought him, and he will succeed.

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

16 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.

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.

17 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.

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.

18 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.

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;

19 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.

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.

20 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.'

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;

21 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.

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.

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

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