Isaiah 48
1 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.
“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—
2 For from the Holy City they have been called, And on the God of Israel been supported, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.
who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
3 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.
I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4 From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,
For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
5 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.
Therefore I declared it to you long ago; I announced it before it came to pass, so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this; my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’
6 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.
You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.
7 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.'
They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot claim, ‘I already knew them!’
8 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.
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
9 For My name's sake I defer Mine anger, And My praise I restrain for thee, So as not to cut thee off.
For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath; for the sake of My praise I will restrain it, so that you will not be cut off.
10 Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction.
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For My sake, for Mine own sake, I do [it], For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not.
For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.
12 Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called one, I [am] He, I [am] first, and I [am] last;
Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.
13 Also, My hand hath founded earth, And My right hand stretched out the heavens, I am calling unto them, they stand together.
Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
14 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.
Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I — I have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him in, And he hath made prosperous his way.
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.
16 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.
Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.
17 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.
Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.
18 O that thou hadst attended to My commands, Then as a river is thy peace, And thy righteousness as billows of the sea,
If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
19 And as sand is thy seed, And the offspring of thy bowels as its gravel, Not cut off nor destroyed his name before Me.
Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”
20 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.
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
21 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.
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.
22 There is no peace, said Jehovah, to the wicked!
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
