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

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

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.

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

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

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 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, 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 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.'

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 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 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 For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, and for my honor I will hold back from destroying 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 Look, I refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction.

Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a 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 My sake, for Mine own sake, I do [it], For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not.

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, My called one, I [am] He, I [am] first, and I [am] 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.

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

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

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

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.

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, 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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.'

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 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.

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

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