Isaiah 48
48
Israel Is Stubborn
1People of Jacob, listen to me.
You are called by the name of Israel.
You come from the family line of Judah.
You make promises in the name of the Lord.
You pray to Israel’s God.
But you aren’t honest.
You don’t mean what you say.
2You call yourselves citizens of the holy city of Jerusalem.
You say you depend on Israel’s God.
His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All. He says,
3“Long ago I told you ahead of time what would happen.
I announced it and made it known.
Then all of a sudden I acted.
And those things took place.
4I knew how stubborn you were.
Your neck muscles were as unbending as iron.
Your forehead was as hard as bronze.
5So I told you those things long ago.
Before they happened I announced them to you.
I did it so you would not be able to say,
‘My statues of gods did them.
My wooden and metal gods made them happen.’
6You have heard me tell you these things.
Think about all of them.
Won’t you admit they have taken place?
“From now on I will tell you about new things that will happen.
I have not made them known to you before.
7These things are taking place right now.
They did not happen long ago.
You have not heard of them before today.
So you can’t say,
‘Oh, yes. I already knew about them.’
8You have not heard or understood what I said.
Your ears have been plugged up for a long time.
I knew very well that you would turn against me.
From the day you were born, you have refused to obey me.
9For the honor of my own name I wait to show my anger.
I hold it back from you so people will continue to praise me.
I do not want to destroy you completely.
10I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
I have tried to make you pure.
But I did not use as much heat as it takes to make silver pure.
11I tried to purify you for my own honor.
I did it for the honor of my name.
How can I let myself be dishonored?
I will not give up my glory to any other god.
Israel Is Set Free
12“Family of Jacob, listen to me.
People of Israel, pay attention.
I have chosen you.
I am the first and the last.
I am the Lord.
13With my own hand I laid the foundations of the earth.
With my right hand I spread out the heavens.
When I send for them,
they come and stand ready to obey me.
14“People of Israel, come together and listen to me.
What other god has said ahead of time that certain things would happen?
I have chosen Cyrus.
He will carry out my plans against Babylon.
He will use his power against the Babylonians.
15I myself have spoken.
I have chosen him to carry out my purpose.
I will bring him to Babylon.
He will succeed in what I tell him to do.
16“Come close and listen to me.
“From the first time I said Cyrus was coming,
I did not do it in secret.
When he comes, I will be there.”
The Lord and King has filled me with his Spirit.
People of Israel, he has sent me to you.
17The Lord is the Holy One of Israel.
He sets his people free. He says to them,
“I am the Lord your God.
I teach you what is best for you.
I direct you in the way you should go.
18I wish you would pay attention to my commands.
If you did, peace would flow over you like a river.
Godliness would sweep over you like the waves of the ocean.
19Your family would be like the sand.
Your children after you would be as many as the grains of sand by the sea.
It would be impossible to count them.
I would always accept the members of your family line.
They would never disappear or be destroyed.”
20People of Israel, leave Babylon!
Hurry up and get away from the Babylonians!
Here is what I want you to announce.
Make it known with shouts of joy.
Send the news out from one end of the earth to the other.
Say, “The Lord has set free his servant Jacob.”
21They didn’t get thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow out of the rock for them.
He broke the rock open,
and water came out of it.
22“There is no peace for those who are evil,” says the Lord.
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Isaiah 48: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Isaiah 48
48
God’s Stubborn People
1“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,
2even 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.
3Long ago I told you what was going to happen.
Then suddenly I took action,
and all my predictions came true.
4For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are.
Your necks are as unbending as iron.
Your heads are as hard as bronze.
5That 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!’
6You 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.
7They are brand new, not things from the past.
So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’
8“Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new,
things you never heard of before.
For I know so well what traitors you are.
You have been rebels from birth.
9Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name,
I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.
10I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.
Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
11I will rescue you for my sake—
yes, for my own sake!
I will not let my reputation be tarnished,
and I will not share my glory with idols!
Freedom from Babylon
12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob,
Israel my chosen one!
I alone am God,
the First and the Last.
13It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth,
my right hand that spread out the heavens above.
When I call out the stars,
they all appear in order.”
14Have any of your idols ever told you this?
Come, all of you, and listen:
The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
and to destroy the Babylonian#48:14 Or Chaldean. armies.
15“I have said it: I am calling Cyrus!
I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.
16Come closer, and listen to this.
From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.”
And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit
have sent me with this message.
17This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow.
18Oh, that you had listened to my commands!
Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river
and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
19Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—
too many to count!
There would have been no need for your destruction,
or for cutting off your family name.”
20Yet even now, be free from your captivity!
Leave Babylon and the Babylonians.#48:20a Or the Chaldeans.
Sing out this message!
Shout it to the ends of the earth!
The Lord has redeemed his servants,
the people of Israel.#48:20b Hebrew his servant, Jacob. See note on 14:1.
21They were not thirsty
when he led them through the desert.
He divided the rock,
and water gushed out for them to drink.
22“But there is no peace for the wicked,”
says the Lord.
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