Isaiah 48:12-52
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh Frees Israel
12 “Listen to me, Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called:[a]
I am he. I am the first;
also I am the last.
13 Indeed, my hand founded the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon[b] them, they stand in position together.
14 Assemble, all of you, and hear!
Who among them declared these things?
Yahweh loves him;
he shall perform[c] his wish against Babylon
and his arm against the Chaldeans.[d]
15 I, I myself, I have spoken!
Indeed, I have called him.
I have brought him,
and he will be successful in his way.
16 Draw near to me; hear this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the beginning;[e]
from the time it came to be,[f] there I have been;
And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit.”
17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel:
“I am Yahweh your God, who teaches[g] you to profit,
leads you in the way you should go.
18 O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!
Then[h] your prosperity would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 And your offspring would have been like the sand,
and the descendants of your body[i] like its grains.[j]
It would not be cut off,
and its name would not be destroyed from my presence.”
20 Go out from Babylon!
Flee from Chaldea!
Proclaim[k] it with a shout[l] of rejoicing; proclaim[m] this!
Send it forth[n] to the end of the earth;
say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 And when he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty;
he made water flow from the rock for them,
and he split the rock,
and the water gushed out.
22 “There is no peace,” says Yahweh, “for the wicked.”
Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation
49 Listen to me, coastlands,
and listen attentively, peoples from far away!
Yahweh called me from the womb;
from the body[o] of my mother he made my name known.
2 And he made[p] my mouth like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hand,
and he made[q] me like an sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will show my glory.”
4 But[r] I myself said, “I have labored in[s] vain;
I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity!
Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now Yahweh says,
who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might not[t] be gathered,
for[u] I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,
and my God has become my strength.
6 And he says, “It is trivial for you to be[v] a servant for me,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel.
I will give you as a light to the nations,
to be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,
to the one who despises[w] life,
to the one who abhors the nation,
to the slave of rulers:
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall bow down,
for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,
the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.”
Yahweh Restores the Afflicted
8 Thus says Yahweh:
“I have answered you in a time of favor,
and helped you on a day of salvation,
and watched over you,
and given you as a covenant of the people,
to raise up the land,
to give the desolate hereditary property as an inheritance,
9 saying to the prisoners,[x] “Come out!”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves!”
they shall feed along[y] the ways,
and their pasturage shall be on all the barren heights.
10 They shall not be hungry or thirsty,
and heat and sun shall not strike them,
for he who takes pity on them will lead them,
and he will guide them to springs of water.
11 And I will make[z] all my mountains like a road,
and my highways shall lead up.[aa]
12 Look! These shall come from afar,
And look! These from the north and from the west
and these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth!
Mountains must break forth in rejoicing!
For Yahweh has comforted his people,
and he will take pity on his afflicted ones.
Yahweh Remembers Zion
14 But[ab] Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me!”
15 Can a woman forget her suckling,
refrain from having compassion on the child of her womb?
Indeed, these may forget,
but[ac] I, I will not forget you!
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children hasten;
your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart[ad] from you.
18 Lift your eyes up all around and see;
all of them gather; they come to you.
As surely as I live,[ae]
declares[af] Yahweh,
surely you shall put on all of them like an ornament,
and you shall bind them on like a bride.
19 Surely your sites of ruins and desolate places and land of ruins,[ag]
surely now you will be too cramped for your[ah] inhabitants,[ai]
and those who engulfed you will be far away.
20 Yet the children born when you were bereaved[aj] will say in your hearing,[ak]
“The place is too cramped for me;
make room[al] for me so that I can dwell.”
21 Then[am] you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne me these?”
And, “I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and thrust away;
so[an] who raised these?
Look at me! I was left alone;
where have these come from?”[ao]
22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“Look! I will lift my hand up to the nations,
and I will raise my signal to the peoples,
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.[ap]
23 And kings shall be your guardians,[aq]
and their queens your nurses.
They shall bow down, faces[ar] to the ground, to you,
and they will lick up the dust of your feet.
Then[as] you will know that I am Yahweh;
those who await me shall not be ashamed.
24 Can war-booty be taken from the mighty?
or can a captive of a righteous[at] person be rescued?
25 But thus says Yahweh:
“Indeed a captive of the mighty shall be taken,
and the war-booty of the tyrant shall be rescued,
for[au] I myself will dispute with your opponent,
and I myself will save your children.
26 And I will feed your oppressors their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their blood as with wine.
Then[av] all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh,
your savior and redeemer, the strong one of Jacob.”
50 Thus says Yahweh:
“Where is this divorce document of your mother’s divorce, with which I dismissed her?
or to whom of my creditors did I sell you?
Look! you were sold because of your sin,
and your mother was dismissed because of your transgressions.
2 Why was there no man when I came,
no one who answered when I called?
Do I lack the strength to save?[aw]
Or is there no power in me to deliver?
Look! by my rebuke I dry up the sea;
I make[ax] the rivers a desert;
their fish stink because there is no water,
and they[ay] die because of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with darkness,
and I make[az] their covering sackcloth.”
The Servant’s Vindication
4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of a pupil,
to know how to help the weary with a word.
He awakens morning by morning,[ba]
awakens an ear for me to listen as do the pupils.
5 The Lord Yahweh has opened an ear for me,
and I, I was not rebellious.
I did not turn backwards;
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;[bb]
I did not hide my face from insults and spittle.
7 And the Lord Yahweh helps me,
therefore I have not been put to shame;
therefore I have set my face like flint.
And I know that I shall not be ashamed;
8 he who obtains rights for me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand together.
Who is the master of my judgment? Let him approach me.
9 Look! The Lord Yahweh helps me.
Who is the one who will declare me guilty?
Look! All of them will be worn out like a garment;
the moth will eat them.
10 Who among you is in fear of Yahweh,
obeys[bc] the voice of his servant?
Who walks in darkness
and has no light,
trusts in the name of Yahweh
and depends on his God?
11 Look! All of you are kindlers of fire,
who gird yourselves with flaming arrows.
Walk in the light of your fire,
and among the flaming arrows you have kindled!
You shall have this from my hand:
you shall lie down in[bd] a place of torment.
Yahweh Comforts Zion
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
who seek Yahweh.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the excavation of the pit from which you were quarried.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah; she brought you forth.
For I called him alone,[be]
but[bf] I blessed him and made him numerous.”
3 For Yahweh will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all its sites of ruins.
And he will make[bg] its wilderness like Eden,
and its desert like the garden of Yahweh.
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
thanksgiving and the sound[bh] of song.
4 “Listen attentively to me, my people,
and my nation, listen to me!
For a teaching will go out from me,
and I will cause my justice to rest for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near; my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look to the earth beneath,
for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke,
and the earth will be worn out like a garment,
and those who inhabit her will die like gnats.
But[bi] my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
people who have my teaching in their heart;
you must not fear the reproach of men,
or be terrified because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat them like garments;
a moth will devour[bj] them like wool,
but[bk] my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation for generation after generation.[bl]”
9 Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh!
Awake as in days of long ago,
the generations of a long time back!
Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces,
the one who pierced the sea-dragon?
10 Are you not the one who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
the one who made[bm] the depths of the sea a way
for those who are redeemed to cross over?
11 So[bn] the redeemed ones of Yahweh shall return,
and they shall come to Zion with singing,
and everlasting joy shall be on their heads.[bo]
Joy and gladness shall appear;[bp]
sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that[bq] you are afraid of man? He dies!
And of the son of humankind? He is sacrificed[br] as grass!
13 And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens,
and founded the earth.
And you tremble continually, all day,
because of the wrath of the oppressor
when he takes aim[bs] to destroy.
But[bt] where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The fettered one shall make haste to be freed.
And he shall not die in[bu] the pit,
and he shall not lack his bread.
15 For[bv] I am Yahweh, your God,
who stirs up[bw] the sea, so that[bx] its waves roar;
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth,
and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand,
to plant the heavens
and to found the earth,
saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself!
Stand up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath;
you have drunk the goblet, the cup of staggering;
you have drained it out.
18 There is no one who guides her among[by] all the children she has borne,
and there is no one who grasps her by the hand among[bz] all the children she raised.
19 Two things here have happened to you—who will show sympathy[ca] for you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword—who will comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in[cb] a snare,
those who are full of the wrath of Yahweh,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear now this afflicted one
and drunken one but[cc] not from wine.
22 Thus says your Lord, Yahweh,
and your God pleads the cause of his people:
“Look! I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering.
You shall not continue[cd] to drink the goblet, the cup of my wrath, any longer.
23 And I will put it in the hand of your tormenters,
who have said to you,[ce] ‘Bow down that[cf] we may pass[cg] over you!’
And you have made[ch] your back like the ground,
and like the street for those who pass[ci] over you.”
Yahweh Redeems Zion
52 Awake! Awake; put on your strength, Zion!
Put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem, holy city![cj]
For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall not continue to[ck] enter you any longer.
2 Shake yourself free from the dust! Rise up; sit, Jerusalem!
Free yourselves from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says Yahweh:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“My people went down to Egypt in the beginning, to dwell as aliens there, and Assyria oppressed him without cause.[cl] 5 And now what do I have here?”declares[cm] Yahweh, “for my people is taken without cause. Its rulers howl,” declares[cn] Yahweh—“and my name is reviled continually, all day. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name, therefore in that day, that I am the one who speaks. Here am I.”[co]
7 How delightful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns as a king.”
8 The voices[cp] of your watchmen! They lift up their voices;[cq]
together they sing for joy;
for they clearly[cr] see Yahweh’s return to Zion.
9 Break forth,
sing for joy together, ruins of Jerusalem,
for Yahweh has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 Yahweh has bared his holy arm[cs] to the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends[ct] of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there! You must not touch any unclean thing.
Go out from the midst of it, keep clean, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for Yahweh is going before you,
and your rear guard is the God of Israel.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:12 Literally “who was called by me”
- Isaiah 48:13 Or “calling”
- Isaiah 48:14 Or “do”
- Isaiah 48:14 Literally “Chaldea”
- Isaiah 48:16 Literally “head”
- Isaiah 48:16 Literally “of becoming it”
- Isaiah 48:17 Literally “teaching”
- Isaiah 48:18 Or “and”
- Isaiah 48:19 Literally “intestines”
- Isaiah 48:19 Hebrew “grain”
- Isaiah 48:20 Or “announce”
- Isaiah 48:20 Or “sound”
- Isaiah 48:20 Or “cause to hear”
- Isaiah 48:20 Literally “Cause it to go out”
- Isaiah 49:1 Literally “intestines”
- Isaiah 49:2 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 49:2 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 49:4 Or “And”
- Isaiah 49:4 Or “for”
- Isaiah 49:5 The reading tradition (Qere) has “to him”
- Isaiah 49:5 Or “and”
- Isaiah 49:6 Literally “from being you”
- Isaiah 49:7 A Dead Sea Scroll reads “is despised with respect to”
- Isaiah 49:9 Literally “captured ones”
- Isaiah 49:9 Literally “on”
- Isaiah 49:11 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 49:11 Or “be high”
- Isaiah 49:14 Or “And”
- Isaiah 49:15 Or “and”
- Isaiah 49:17 Or “move away”
- Isaiah 49:18 Literally “Life I”
- Isaiah 49:18 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 49:19 Hebrew “ruin”
- Isaiah 49:19 Literally “cramped by”
- Isaiah 49:19 Hebrew “inhabitant”
- Isaiah 49:20 Literally “of your bereavement”
- Isaiah 49:20 Literally “ears”
- Isaiah 49:20 Literally “approach”
- Isaiah 49:21 Or “And”
- Isaiah 49:21 Or “and”
- Isaiah 49:21 Literally “these where they”
- Isaiah 49:22 Hebrew “shoulder”
- Isaiah 49:23 Literally “those who nurture”
- Isaiah 49:23 Literally “noses”
- Isaiah 49:23 Or “And”
- Isaiah 49:24 The Dead Sea Scroll has “violent”
- Isaiah 49:25 Or “and”
- Isaiah 49:26 Or “And”
- Isaiah 50:2 Literally “short is short my hand from redemption”
- Isaiah 50:2 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 50:2 Hebrew “she”
- Isaiah 50:3 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 50:4 Literally “in the morning in the morning”
- Isaiah 50:6 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 50:10 Or “listens”
- Isaiah 50:11 Or “to”
- Isaiah 51:2 Literally “one”
- Isaiah 51:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “voice”
- Isaiah 51:6 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “eat”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:8 Literally “generation of generations”
- Isaiah 51:10 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:11 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:11 Hebrew “head”
- Isaiah 51:11 Literally “reach”
- Isaiah 51:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:12 Literally “given”
- Isaiah 51:13 Literally “sets up”
- Isaiah 51:13 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:14 Or “to”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “stirring up”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:19 Literally “wander”
- Isaiah 51:20 Or “of”
- Isaiah 51:21 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:22 Literally “do again”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “your inner self”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
- Isaiah 52:1 Literally “city of the holiness”
- Isaiah 52:1 Literally “do again he shall”
- Isaiah 52:4 Literally “in nothing”
- Isaiah 52:5 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 52:5 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 52:6 Literally “Look at me”
- Isaiah 52:8 Hebrew “voice”
- Isaiah 52:8 Hebrew “voice”
- Isaiah 52:8 Literally “eye in eye “
- Isaiah 52:10 Literally “the arm of his holiness”
- Isaiah 52:10 Hebrew “end”
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