Isaiah 48-50

New American Standard Bible

Israel’s Obstinacy

48 “^(A)Hear this, house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came from the ^(B)waters of Judah,
Who ^(C)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in ^(D)righteousness.
²For they name themselves after the ^(E)holy city,
And ^(F)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of armies is His name.
³I ^(G)declared the former things long ago,
And they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
^(H)Suddenly I acted, and they ^(I)came to pass.
⁴Because I know that you are ^[a]^(J)obstinate,
And your ^(K)neck is an iron tendon
And your ^(L)forehead bronze,
⁵Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before ^[b]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My ^(M)idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.’
⁶You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you ^(N)new things from this time,
Hidden things which you have not known.
⁷They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
⁸You have not ^(O)heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a ^[c]^(P)rebel from ^[d]birth.
⁹^(Q)For the sake of My name I ^(R)delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but ^(S)not as silver;
I have tested you in the ^(T)furnace of affliction.
¹¹^(U)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My ^(V)glory to another.

Rescue Promised

¹²“Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel ^[e]whom I called;
^(W)I am He, ^(X)I am the first, I am also the last.
¹³Assuredly My hand ^(Y)founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I ^(Z)call to them, they stand together.
¹⁴^(AA)Assemble, all of you, and listen!
^(AB)Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will ^(AC)carry out His good pleasure against ^(AD)Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
¹⁵I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have ^(AE)called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
¹⁶^(AF)Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have ^(AG)not spoken in secret,
^(AH)From the time it took place, I was there.
And now ^(AI)the Lord ^[f]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

¹⁷This is what the Lord says, He who is your ^(AJ)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to benefit,
Who ^(AK)leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸If only you had ^(AL)paid attention to My commandments!
Then your ^[g]^(AM)well-being would have been like a river,
And your ^(AN)righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹Your ^[h]^(AO)descendants would have been like the sand,
And ^[i]your offspring like its grains;
^(AP)Their name would never be eliminated or destroyed from My presence.”

²⁰^(AQ)Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of ^(AR)joyful shouting, proclaim this,
^(AS)Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “^(AT)The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
²¹They did not ^(AU)thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He ^(AV)made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and ^(AW)the water gushed out.
²²“^(AX)There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

Salvation Reaches to the Ends of the Earth

49 Listen to Me, you ^(AY)islands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
^(AZ)The Lord called Me from the womb;
From the ^[j]body of My mother He named Me.
²He has made My ^(BA)mouth like a sharp sword,
In the ^(BB)shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a sharpened ^(BC)arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
³He said to Me, “^(BD)You are My Servant, Israel,
^(BE)In whom I will show My glory.”
⁴But I said, “I have ^(BF)labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and futility;
Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
And My ^(BG)reward is with My God.”

⁵And now says ^(BH)the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that ^(BI)Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am ^(BJ)honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My ^(BK)strength),
⁶He says, “It is too ^[k]small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the ^(BL)protected ones of Israel;
I will also make You a ^(BM)light ^[l]of the nations
So that My salvation may ^[m]reach to the ^(BN)end of the earth.”
⁷This is what the Lord, the ^(BO)Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
Says to the ^[n]^(BP)despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers:
“^(BQ)Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also ^(BR)bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:
“At a ^(BS)favorable time I answered You,
And on a day of salvation I helped You;
And I will ^(BT)watch over You and ^(BU)make You a covenant of the people,
To ^[o]^(BV)restore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;
⁹Saying to those who are ^(BW)bound, ‘^[p]Go free,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the roads,
And their pasture will be on all ^(BX)bare heights.
¹⁰They will ^(BY)not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching ^(BZ)heat or sun strike them down;
For ^(CA)He who has compassion on them will ^(CB)lead them,
And He will guide them to ^(CC)springs of water.
¹¹I will make all ^(CD)My mountains a road,
And My ^(CE)highways will be raised up.
¹²Behold, these will come ^(CF)from afar;
And behold, these will come from the ^(CG)north and from the west,
And these from the land of Aswan.”
¹³^(CH)Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains!
For the ^(CI)Lord has comforted His people
And will ^(CJ)have compassion on His afflicted.

Promise to Zion

¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”
¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but ^(CK)I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, I have ^(CL)inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your ^(CM)walls are continually before Me.
¹⁷Your ^[q]builders hurry;
Your ^(CN)destroyers and devastators
Will leave you.
¹⁸^(CO)Raise your eyes and look around;
^(CP)All of them gather together, ^(CQ)they come to you.
^(CR)As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You will certainly ^(CS)put them all on as ^[r]jewelry and bind them on as a bride.
¹⁹For ^(CT)your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—
Now you will certainly be ^(CU)too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who ^(CV)swallowed you will be far away.
²⁰The ^(CW)children ^[s]you lost will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’
²¹Then you will ^(CX)say in your heart,
‘Who has fathered these for me,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And ^(CY)cannot conceive, and I am an ^(CZ)exile, and a wanderer?
And who has raised these?
Behold, I was ^(DA)left alone;
^[t]^(DB)Where are these from?’”

²²This is what the Lord ^[u]God says:

“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
And set up My ^(DC)flag to the peoples;
And they will ^(DD)bring your sons ^[v]in their arms,
And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
²³^(DE)Kings will be your guardians,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will ^(DF)bow down to you with their faces to the ground
And ^(DG)lick the dust from your feet;
And you will ^(DH)know that I am the Lord;
Those who hopefully ^(DI)wait for Me will ^(DJ)not be put to shame.

²⁴“^(DK)Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
Or the captives of ^[w]a tyrant be rescued?”

²⁵Indeed, this is what the Lord says:

“Even the ^(DL)captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the prey of a tyrant will be rescued;
For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
And I will ^(DM)save your sons.
²⁶I will feed your ^(DN)oppressors with their ^(DO)own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And ^[x]^(DP)humanity will know that I, the Lord, am your ^(DQ)Savior
And your ^(DR)Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

God Helps His Servant

50 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is the ^(DS)certificate of divorce
By which I have ^(DT)sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I ^(DU)sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your ^(DV)wrongdoings,
And for your ^(DW)wrongful acts your mother ^(DX)was sent away.
²Why was there ^(DY)no one when I came?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My ^(DZ)hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Behold, I ^(EA)dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I ^(EB)turn rivers into a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water,
And die of thirst.
³I ^(EC)clothe the heavens with blackness,
And make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord ^[y]God has given Me the tongue of ^(ED)disciples,
So that I may know how to ^(EE)sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me ^(EF)morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
⁵The Lord God has ^(EG)opened My ear,
And I was ^(EH)not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.
⁶I ^(EI)gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
⁷For the Lord God ^(EJ)helps Me,
Therefore, I am ^(EK)not disgraced;
Therefore, I have made My face like ^(EL)flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸He who ^(EM)vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us ^(EN)stand up to each other.
Who has a case against Me?
Let him approach Me.
⁹Behold, ^(EO)the Lord God helps Me;
^(EP)Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, ^(EQ)they will all wear out like a garment;
A moth will eat them.
¹⁰Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His ^(ER)servant,
Who ^(ES)walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him ^(ET)trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
¹¹Behold, all you who ^(EU)kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will ^(EV)lie down in torment.