Isaiah 48
English Standard Version
Israel Refined for God's Glory
48 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
(A)who are called by the name of Israel,
and (B)who came from the waters of Judah,
(C)who swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
(D)and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things (E)I declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that (F)you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
5 (G)I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, (H)‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth (I)I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that (J)from before birth you were called a rebel.
9 (K)“For my name's sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, (L)but not as silver;
(M)I have tried[a] you in the furnace of affliction.
11 (N)For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name[b] be profaned?
(O)My glory I will not give to another.
The Lord's Call to Israel
12 “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; (P)I am the first,
and I am the last.
13 My hand (Q)laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand (R)spread out the heavens;
(S)when I call to them,
they stand forth together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
(T)Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
(U)he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against (V)the Chaldeans.
15 (W)I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 (X)Draw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now (Y)the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 (Z)Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
(AA)Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19 (AB)your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”
20 (AC)Go out from Babylon, flee from (AD)Chaldea,
declare this (AE)with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, (AF)“The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 (AG)They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
(AH)he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22 (AI)“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:10 Or I have chosen
- Isaiah 48:11 Hebrew lacks my name
Isaiah 48
New Living Translation
God’s Stubborn People
48 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel
and born into the family of Judah.
Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord
and call on the God of Israel.
You don’t keep your promises,
2 even though you call yourself the holy city
and talk about depending on the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
3 Long ago I told you what was going to happen.
Then suddenly I took action,
and all my predictions came true.
4 For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are.
Your necks are as unbending as iron.
Your heads are as hard as bronze.
5 That is why I told you what would happen;
I told you beforehand what I was going to do.
Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it.
My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’
6 You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled,
but you refuse to admit it.
Now I will tell you new things,
secrets you have not yet heard.
7 They are brand new, not things from the past.
So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’
8 “Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new,
things you never heard of before.
For I know so well what traitors you are.
You have been rebels from birth.
9 Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name,
I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.
10 I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.
Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
11 I will rescue you for my sake—
yes, for my own sake!
I will not let my reputation be tarnished,
and I will not share my glory with idols!
Freedom from Babylon
12 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,
Israel my chosen one!
I alone am God,
the First and the Last.
13 It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth,
my right hand that spread out the heavens above.
When I call out the stars,
they all appear in order.”
14 Have any of your idols ever told you this?
Come, all of you, and listen:
The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
and to destroy the Babylonian[a] armies.
15 “I have said it: I am calling Cyrus!
I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.
16 Come closer, and listen to this.
From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.”
And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit
have sent me with this message.
17 This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow.
18 Oh, that you had listened to my commands!
Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river
and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—
too many to count!
There would have been no need for your destruction,
or for cutting off your family name.”
20 Yet even now, be free from your captivity!
Leave Babylon and the Babylonians.[b]
Sing out this message!
Shout it to the ends of the earth!
The Lord has redeemed his servants,
the people of Israel.[c]
21 They were not thirsty
when he led them through the desert.
He divided the rock,
and water gushed out for them to drink.
22 “But there is no peace for the wicked,”
says the Lord.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
