Isaiah 48
48
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
1“Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But #Is. 58:2; Jer. 4:2; 5:2not in truth or in righteousness;
2For they call themselves #Is. 52:1; 64:10after the holy city,
And #Is. 10:20; Jer. 7:4; 21:2; Mic. 3:11; Rom. 2:17lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3“I have #Is. 44:7, 8; 46:10declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, #Josh. 21:45; Is. 42:9and they came to pass.
4Because I knew that you were obstinate,
And #Ex. 32:9; Deut. 31:27; Ezek. 2:4; 3:7your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6“You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called #Deut. 9:7, 24; Ps. 58:3; Is. 46:3, 8a transgressor from the womb.
9“For#Ps. 79:9; 106:8; Is. 43:25; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44 My name’s sake #(Neh. 9:30, 31); Ps. 78:38; Is. 30:18; 65:8I will defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10Behold, #Ps. 66:10; Jer. 9:7I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the #Deut. 4:20; 1 Kin. 8:51; Jer. 11:4furnace of affliction.
11For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For #Lev. 22:2, 32; Deut. 32:26, 27; Ezek. 20:9how should My name be profaned?
And #Is. 42:8I will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12“Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, #Deut. 32:39I am the #Is. 44:6; (Rev. 22:13)First,
I am also the Last.
13Indeed #Ex. 20:11; Ps. 102:25; Is. 42:5; 45:12, 18; Heb. 1:10–12My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When #Is. 40:26I call to them,
They stand up together.
14“All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
#Is. 45:1The Lord loves him;
#Is. 44:28; 47:1–15He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, #Is. 45:1, 2I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16“Come near to Me, hear this:
#Is. 45:19I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now #Is. 61:1; Zech. 2:8, 9, 11the Lord God and His Spirit
Have sent Me.”
17Thus says #Is. 43:14the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
#Ps. 32:8; Is. 49:9, 10Who leads you by the way you should go.
18#Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
#Deut. 28:1–14; Ps. 119:165; Is. 32:16–18; 66:12Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19#Gen. 22:17; Is. 10:22; 44:3, 4; 54:3; Jer. 33:22; Hos. 1:10Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20#Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Zech. 2:6, 7; Rev. 18:4Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has #(Ex. 19:4–6)redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21And they #(Is. 41:17, 18)did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He #Ex. 17:6; Ps. 105:41caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22“There#(Is. 57:21) is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
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Isaiah 48: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
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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