Isaiah 48
New English Translation
The Lord Appeals to the Exiles
48 Listen to this, O family of Jacob,[a]
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah,[b]
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke[c] the God of Israel—
but not in an honest and just manner.[d]
2 Indeed, they live in the holy city;[e]
they trust in[f] the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
3 “I announced events beforehand,[g]
I issued the decrees and made the predictions;[h]
suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
4 I did this[i] because I know how stubborn you are.
Your neck muscles are like iron
and your forehead like bronze.[j]
5 I announced them to you beforehand;
before they happened, I predicted them for you,
so you could never say,
‘My image did these things,
my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’
6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence![k]
Will you not admit that what I say is true?[l]
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.[m]
7 Now they come into being,[n] not in the past;
before today you did not hear about them,
so you could not say,
‘Yes,[o] I know about them.’
8 You did not hear,
you do not know,
you were not told beforehand.[p]
For I know that you are very deceitful;[q]
you were labeled[r] a rebel from birth.
9 For the sake of my reputation[s] I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige[t] I restrain myself from destroying you.[u]
10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you[v] in the furnace of misery.
11 For my sake alone[w] I will act,
for how can I allow my name to be defiled?[x]
I will not share my glory with anyone else![y]
12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
Israel, whom I summoned.
I am the one;
I am present at the very beginning
and at the very end.[z]
13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;
my right hand spread out the sky.
I summon them;
they stand together.
14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them[aa] announced these things?
The Lord’s ally[ab] will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians.[ac]
15 I, I have spoken—
yes, I have summoned him;
I lead him and he will succeed.[ad]
16 Approach me—listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens,[ae] I am there.”
So now, the Sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his Spirit.[af]
17 This is what the Lord, your Protector,[ag] says,
the Holy One of Israel:[ah]
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you how to succeed,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had obeyed my[ai] commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river,[aj]
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.[ak]
19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand,[al]
and your children[am] like its granules.
Their name would not have been cut off
and eliminated from my presence.[an]
20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known—
proclaim it throughout the earth![ao]
Say, ‘The Lord protects[ap] his servant Jacob.
21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;
he makes water flow out of a rock for them;
he splits open a rock and water flows out.’[aq]
22 There will be no prosperity for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”
- Isaiah 48:1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a variation from an original מִמְּעֵי (mimmeʿe, “from the inner parts of”). The translation above as well as several other translations treat the text this way or understand that this is what the Hebrew phrase figuratively means (cf. HCSB, NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV). Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading and render it literally as “waters.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.
- Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”
- Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”
- Isaiah 48:2 tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qaraʾ) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.
- Isaiah 48:2 tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”
- Isaiah 48:3 tn Heb “the former things beforehand I declared.”
- Isaiah 48:3 tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth, and I caused them to be heard.”
- Isaiah 48:4 tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.
- Isaiah 48:4 sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.
- Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”
- Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”
- Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”
- Isaiah 48:7 tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”
- Isaiah 48:7 tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”
- Isaiah 48:8 tn Heb “beforehand your ear did not open.”
- Isaiah 48:8 tn Heb “deceiving, you deceive.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
- Isaiah 48:8 tn Or “called” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”
- Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lemaʿan, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
- Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”
- Isaiah 48:10 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bekhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
- Isaiah 48:11 tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lemaʿani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.
- Isaiah 48:11 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).
- Isaiah 48:11 sn See 42:8.
- Isaiah 48:12 tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”
- Isaiah 48:14 sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).
- Isaiah 48:14 tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.” sn The Lord’s ally is a reference to Cyrus.
- Isaiah 48:14 tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”
- Isaiah 48:15 tn Heb “and his way will be prosperous.”
- Isaiah 48:16 tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”
- Isaiah 48:16 sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.
- Isaiah 48:17 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
- Isaiah 48:17 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
- Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
- Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.
- Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
- Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”
- Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”
- Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”
- Isaiah 48:20 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 48:20 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
- Isaiah 48:21 sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).
Isaiah 48
Expanded Bible
God Controls the Future
48 The Lord says, “·Family [L House] of Jacob, listen to me.
You are called [L by the name of] Israel,
and you come from the ·family [L waters; wellsprings] of Judah.
You ·swear [take oaths] by the Lord’s name
and ·praise [confess; call on] the God of Israel,
but ·you are not honest or sincere [L not in truth or in righteousness].
2 You call yourselves ·people of [or by the name of; L from] the holy city,
and you ·depend on [trust in] the God of Israel,
who is named the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
3 Long ago I told you ·what would happen [L the former things].
·I said these things and [L They went out from my mouth and I] made them known;
suddenly I acted, and these things happened.
4 I knew you were stubborn;
your neck was like an iron muscle,
and your ·head [forehead; brow] was like bronze.
5 So a long time ago I told you about these things;
I told you about them before they happened
so you couldn’t say, ‘My idols did this,
and my ·wooden [carved images] and metal statues ·made these things happen [decreed/ordained/commanded them].’
6 “You heard and saw everything that happened,
·so you should [L will you not…?] tell this news to others.
·Now [From this time on] I will tell you about new things,
hidden things that you don’t know yet.
7 ·These things are happening [L They are created] now, not long ago;
you have not heard about them before today.
So you cannot say, ‘[L Look; or Yes; T Behold] We already knew about that.’
8 But you have not heard; you have not understood.
Even long ago ·you did not listen [L your ear has not been opened].
I knew you would surely ·turn [act treacherously] against me;
you ·have fought against me [L were called a rebel] ·since you were born [L from the womb].
9 But for my ·own [L name’s] sake I will ·be patient [L hold back my anger].
·People will praise me because [L For the sake of my praise] I did not become angry
and ·destroy you [cut you off].
10 I have ·made you pure [refined you], but not by fire, as silver is made pure.
I have purified you ·by giving you troubles [L in the furnace of affliction/suffering].
11 I do this for myself, for my own sake.
·I will not [L How could I…?] let ·people speak evil against me [L my name be defiled/profaned],
and I will not ·let some god take my glory [L give/share my glory with another].
Israel Will Be Free
12 “·People of Jacob [L Jacob], listen to me.
·People of Israel [L Israel], ·I have called you to be my people [L whom I called].
I am ·God [L he; the one];
I am the ·beginning and the end [L first and I am the last; 41:4; 44:5].
13 I ·made [L laid the foundation of] the earth with my own hands.
With my right hand I spread out the skies.
When I call them,
they ·come [stand] together before me.”
14 All of you, come together and listen.
·None of the gods [L Who among them…?] said these things would happen.
The Lord ·has chosen someone [has an ally; or loves him; C a reference to Cyrus, king of Persia; see 41:2; 44:28–45:6; 46:11; 48:14–16]
to carry out his ·wishes [desire; purpose] against Babylon,
·to attack [L his arm will be against] the Babylonians;
15 “I have spoken; I have called him.
I have brought him, and I will make him successful.
16 Come to me and listen to this.
From the ·beginning [first] I have ·spoken openly [L not spoken in secret].
From the time it ·began [happened], I was there.”
Now, the Lord God
·has sent me with his Spirit [or and his Spirit have sent me; C Cyrus is probably speaking here; vv. 14–15].
17 This is what the Lord, ·who saves you [your Redeemer],
the Holy One of Israel [1:4], says:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you ·to do what is good [what is best; or how to succeed],
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If you had obeyed my commands,
you would have had peace like a river [C abundant and overflowing; 66:12].
·Good things [Your righteousness] would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.
19 ·Your ·children [descendants] would have been ·as numerous as [L like] ·sand in the sea [L sand]
and your ·descendants [offspring/seed of your body] like grains of sand [10:22; Gen. 15:5; 22:17; Hos. 1:10].
·They [L Their name] would never have ·died out [been cut off]
nor been destroyed.”
20 ·My people, leave [L Go out from] Babylon!
Run from the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans]!
Tell this news with shouts of joy to the people;
spread it ·everywhere on [L to the end of] earth.
Say, “The Lord has ·saved [redeemed] his ·servants, the people of Jacob [L servant Jacob].”
21 They did not become thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow from a rock for them.
He split the rock,
and water flowed out [43:19; Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11].
22 “There is no peace for ·evil people [the wicked],” says the Lord.
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