Isaiah 48
48
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
1#Ps 68:26; Jer 4:2 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and have come forth from the waters of Judah;
who swear by the name of the Lord,
and invoke the God of Israel,
but not in truth or in righteousness;
2#Mic 3:11; Isa 10:20 for they call themselves after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of Hosts is His name:
3#Isa 41:22; 42:9 I have declared the former things from the beginning;
and they went forth from My mouth, and I announced them.
Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4#Ex 32:9; Dt 31:27 Because I knew that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew,
and your brow bronze;
5#Isa 48:3; Jer 44:15–18 I have even from the beginning declared it to you;
before it came to pass I announced it to you,
lest you should say,
“My idol has done them,
and my carved image and my molded image has commanded them.”
6#Isa 42:9 You have heard; see all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have shown you new things from this time,
even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7They are created now and not from the beginning;
even before the day when you did not hear them,
lest you should say,
“Yes, I knew them.”
8#Ps 58:3 You have not heard, you have not known,
indeed, from long ago your ear has not been open.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
and that from birth you have been called a rebel.
9#Ps 78:38; Ne 9:30–31 For My name’s sake I will defer My anger,
and for My praise I will restrain it for you
so that you are not cut off.
10#Dt 4:20; Jer 9:7 See, I have refined you, but not with silver;
I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11#Isa 42:8; Eze 20:9 For My own sake, even for My own sake, I will do it;
for how can My name be polluted?
And I will not give My glory to another.
The Lord’s Call to Israel
12#Isa 41:4; Rev 22:13 Listen to Me, O Jacob
and Israel, whom I called:
I am He;
I am the First, and I am the Last.
13#Isa 40:26; Ex 20:11 My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth,
and My right hand has spanned the heavens;
when I call to them,
they stand up together.
14#Isa 43:9; 13:4–5 Assemble, all of you, and listen.
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord has loved him;
he will do His pleasure on Babylon,
and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15I, even I, have spoken,
and I have called him;
I have brought him,
and his way will prosper.
16#Isa 45:19Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
from the time that it was, there I am.
And now the Lord God has sent me
and His Spirit.
17#Ps 32:8; Isa 43:14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18#Dt 32:29; Isa 66:12 Oh, that you had listened to My commandments!
Then your peace would have been as a river
and your righteousness as the waves of the sea.
19#Ge 22:17; Isa 10:22 Your descendants also would have been as the sand
and your offspring like grains of sand;
their name would not have been cut off
nor destroyed from before Me.
20#Isa 52:9; Jer 50:8; 51:6 Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing declare,
proclaim this,
utter it even to the ends of the earth;
say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21#Ex 17:6; Nu 20:11 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts;
He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them;
He also split the rock,
and the waters gushed out.
22#Isa 57:21 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
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Isaiah 48: MEV
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Military Bible Association
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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