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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Isaiah 48: NLT
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Isaiah 48
48
Yahweh Refines Stubborn Israel
1Hear this, house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and came out from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of Yahweh,
and invoke#Literally “cause to remember” the God of Israel,
but not in truth
and not in righteousness.
2For they call themselves after the holy city,#Literally “from the city of the holiness”
and they lean on the God of Israel—
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
3“I declared the former things from of old,#Literally “then”
and they went out from my mouth.
And I announced#Literally “caused to hear” them suddenly;
I acted,#Or “did” and they came to pass,
4because I know#Literally “knowing me” that you are obstinate,
and your neck an iron sinew,
and your forehead bronze.
5And I declared them to you from of old;
I announced#Literally “caused to hear” them to you before they came to pass
so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,
and my image and my cast image commanded them.’
6You have heard; see it all.
And will you not declare it?
I announce#Literally “cause to hear” new things to you from this time
and hidden things that#Or “and” you have not known.
7Now they are created, and not from of old,#Literally “then”
and before today, and you have not heard them
so that you could not say, “Look! I knew them.”
8Neither have you heard, nor have you known,
nor from of old#Literally “then” has your ear been opened.
For I knew you would deal treacherously, very treacherously,
and you are called a rebel from the womb.
9For the sake of my name I refrain from#Literally “make long” my anger,
and for my praise I restrain it for you
so as not to cut you off.
10Look! I have refined you, but#Or “and” not like#Or “with” silver;
I have chosen you in the furnace of misery.
11For my own sake, for my own sake I do it;
for why should it#That is, my name be defiled?
And I will not give my glory to another.”
Yahweh Frees Israel
12“Listen to me, Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called:#Literally “who was called by me”
I am he. I am the first;
also I am the last.
13Indeed, my hand founded the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon#Or “calling” them, they stand in position together.
14Assemble, all of you, and hear!
Who among them declared these things?
Yahweh loves him;
he shall perform#Or “do” his wish against Babylon
and his arm against the Chaldeans.#Literally “Chaldea”
15I, I myself, I have spoken!
Indeed, I have called him.
I have brought him,
and he will be successful in his way.
16Draw near to me; hear this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the beginning;#Literally “head”
from the time it came to be,#Literally “of becoming it” there I have been;
And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit.”
17Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel:
“I am Yahweh your God, who teaches#Literally “teaching” you to profit,
leads you in the way you should go.
18O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!
Then#Or “and” your prosperity would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19And your offspring would have been like the sand,
and the descendants of your body#Literally “intestines” like its grains.#Hebrew “grain”
It would not be cut off,
and its name would not be destroyed from my presence.”
20Go out from Babylon!
Flee from Chaldea!
Proclaim#Or “announce” it with a shout#Or “sound” of rejoicing; proclaim#Or “cause to hear” this!
Send it forth#Literally “Cause it to go out” to the end of the earth;
say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21And 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.”
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