Isaiah 48
48
Israel Must Leave Babylon
1“Listen to this, house of Jacob —
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from#48:1 Lit have come from the waters of Judah,#Nm 24:7; Dt 33:28; Ps 68:26
who swear by the name of the Lord#Dt 6:13; Is 45:23; 65:16
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
2For they are named after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;#Is 10:20; Jr 7:4; 21:2; Mc 3:11; Rm 2:17
his name is the Lord of Armies.
3I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of my mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron#48:4 Lit is an iron sinew
and your forehead bronze,#Ex 32:9; Dt 31:27; Ezk 2:4; 3:7–9
5therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’#Jr 44:15–18
6You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.#Is 42:9; 43:19
7They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’
8You have never heard; you have never known;
for a long time your ears have not been open.
For I knew that you were very treacherous,
and were known as a rebel from birth.#Dt 9:7,24; Ps 58:3; Is 46:8
9I will delay my anger for the sake of my name,
and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
10Look, I have refined you,#Dt 4:20; 1Kg 8:51; Jr 11:4; Ezk 22:18–22; 1Pt 1:7 but not as silver;
I have tested#48:10 DSS; MT reads chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own,#Is 43:25; Ezk 20:9
for how can I#48:11 DSS, Syr; MT reads it be defiled?
I will not give my glory to another.#Is 42:8
12“Listen to me, Jacob,
and Israel, the one called by me:
I am he; I am the first,
I am also the last.#Is 41:4; 43:10–13; 46:4; Rv 1:17
13My own hand founded the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;#Ps 102:25; Is 42:5; 45:12,18; Heb 1:10–12
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
14All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols#48:14 Lit among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;#48:14 = Cyrus
he will accomplish his will against Babylon,#Is 13:4–5,17–19; 46:10–11
and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15I — I have spoken;
yes, I have called him;#Is 41:2; 45:1–2
I have brought him,
and he will succeed in his mission.#Is 53:10
16Approach me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;#Is 45:19
from the time anything existed, I was there.”
And now the Lord God
has sent me and his Spirit.#Nm 27:18; Ps 51:11; Is 61:1; 63:7,10; Zch 2:9,11
17This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,#Is 41:14; 43:14 the Holy One of Israel#Is 1:4 says:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,#Is 32:16–18; 66:12
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.#Dt 5:29; 32:29; Ps 81:13–16; Am 5:24
19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,#Gn 22:17; Is 10:22; 44:3–4; 54:3; Hs 1:10
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from my presence.
20Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The Lord has redeemed his servant#Is 41:8–9; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1–2,21; 45:4; 49:3; 54:17; Lk 1:54 Jacob!”
21They did not thirst
when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow from the rock for them;#Ex 17:6; Ps 78:15–16
he split the rock, and water gushed out.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.#Is 57:21
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Isaiah 48: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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