Isaiah 48:1-6
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]
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 48:1-6
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.
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