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.

Give ear to this, O family of Jacob, you who are named by the name of Israel, and have come out of the body of Judah; who take oaths by the name of the Lord, and make use of the name of the God of Israel, but not truly and not in good faith.

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

For they say that they are of the holy town, and put their faith in the God of Israel: the Lord of armies 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 gave word in the past of the things which came about; they came from my mouth, and I made them clear: suddenly I did them, and they came about.

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

Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;

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.

For this reason I made it clear to you in the past, before it came I gave you word of it: for fear that you might say, My god did these things, and my pictured and metal images made them come about.

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.

All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge.

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 have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of 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.

Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.

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

Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.

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

See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.

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 myself, even because of my name, I will do it; for I will not let my name be shamed; and my glory I will not give to another.

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

Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; 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.

Yes, by my hand was the earth placed on its base, and by my right hand the heavens were stretched out; at my word they take up their places.

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 give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.

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 given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.

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 give ear to this; from the start I did not keep it secret; from the time of its coming into existence I was there: and now the Lord God has sent me, and given me 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.

The Lord who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, I am the Lord your God, who is teaching you for your profit, guiding you by the way in which you are to 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 given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the 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 seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.

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.

Go out of Babylon, go in flight from the Chaldaeans; with the sound of song make it clear, give the news, let the word go out even to the end of the earth: say, The Lord has taken up the cause of 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 had no need of water when he was guiding them through the waste lands: he made water come out of the rock for them: the rock was parted and the waters came flowing out.

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

There is no peace, says the Lord, for the evil-doers.