Isaiah 48

Isaiah

48 ¹[Hearken and][1]
hear this,

O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,

who came forth from the waters of Judah
[or out of the waters of baptism],

who swear by the name of the LORD
and acknowledge the God of Israel,

[yet they swear] not in truth
nor in righteousness.

²[Nevertheless], they call themselves of the holy city,
and they lean upon the God of Israel,

[who is the Lord of Hosts;
yea] the LORD of Hosts is His name.

The Lord

³[Behold,] the former things I announced from of old;
and they went forth out of My mouth,

and I announced them.
I did [show] them suddenly, and they came to pass.

⁴[I did it] because I knew that you are obstinate,
and your neck is iron sinew,
and your forehead is brass.

⁵And I have told you from old;
before it came to pass, I [showed them] to you,
[and I showed them for fear]

lest you should say—

Idolater

“My idol has done them;
my carved and molten images have commanded them.”

The Lord

⁶You have [seen and] heard. Now see all this!
And you, will you not declare it?

I announced to you new things from this time,
and hidden things, and you did not know them.

⁷They are created now,
and not from the beginning,

and before today you had not heard [they were declared to you],
lest you should say—

Idolater

“Behold, I knew them.”

The Lord

⁸Moreover, you never heard;
moreover, you never knew;
moreover, from that time your ear was not opened,

for I knew that you would certainly betray
and that you were called a transgressor from the womb.

⁹[Nevertheless][2], for My name’s sake I will defer My anger;
and for My praise will I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off.

¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver;
I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹For My sake, [yea],
for My sake will I do it,

for [I will not suffer] my name to be polluted[3],
and My glory I will not give to another.

¹²Hearken to Me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I have called;

I am He; I am the first,
and I am also the last.

¹³Indeed, My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
and My right hand has spread out the heavens.

I call to them;
they stand forth together.

Isaiah

¹⁴All of you, assemble yourselves and hear! Who among them has declared these things [unto them]? The LORD has loved him; [yea, and He will fulfil His word that He hath declared by them;

and] He will do His desire against Babylon,
and His arm [will come upon] the Chaldeans.

¹⁵[Also, says the Lord:]

The Lord

“I, [the Lord, yea,] I have spoken;
yea, I have called him [to declare,]

I have brought him,
and I[4] will make his way prosperous.

¹⁶Come near to Me;

I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning,
from the time that it was, there I [declared have I spoken.”]

Isaiah

And the Lord, the LORD
and His Spirit, has sent me.

Isaiah

¹⁷[And][5] thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel,

The Lord

“[I have sent him,] the LORD your God, who teaches you to avail,
who leads you in the way you should go, [has done it].

¹⁸O that you had hearkened to My commandments—
then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹And your seed also would have been like the sand,
the offspring of your loins like its grain;

their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before Me.”

Isaiah

²⁰Go forth from Babylon;
flee from Chaldea.

With a voice of singing declare,
tell this, send it [voice of singing] to the end of the earth; say,

Singers

“The LORD has redeemed His servant, Jacob.
And they did not thirst in the deserts where He led them.

²¹He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock, and the water gushed out.”

Isaiah

²²[And notwithstanding He has done all this,
and greater also,][6] the LORD says:

The Lord

“There is no peace for the wicked.”