Isaiah 48
48
God Rules His World
1“Family of Jacob, listen to me!
You people call yourself ‘Israel,’
but you are from Judah’s family.
When you take an oath, I, the Lord, the God of Israel,
am the one whose name you use,
but you are not honest and sincere.
2“Yes, you call yourselves citizens of the holy city,#48:2 holy city That is, Jerusalem.
those who depend on the God of Israel.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
3“Long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about these things.
And suddenly I made them happen.
4I did that because I knew you were stubborn.
You were like iron that will not bend,
with heads as hard as bronze.
5So long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about those things long before they happened.
I did this so that you could not say,
‘The gods we made did this.
Our idols, our statues, made this happen.’”
God Punishes Israel to Make Them Pure
6“You heard what I said would happen.
And you can see it has all been done.
Shouldn’t you tell this to others?
Now I will tell you about new things,
secrets you have not known before.
7This is something that is happening now, not long ago.
You have not heard about it before today.
So you cannot say, ‘We already knew that.’
8But even in the past you didn’t listen.
You didn’t learn anything.
You never listen to what I say.
I have always known that you would turn against me.
You have rebelled against me from the time you were born.
9“But I will be patient.
I will do this for myself.
People will praise me for not becoming angry and destroying you.
You will praise me for waiting.
10“Look, I will make you pure,
but not in the way you make silver pure.
I will make you pure by giving you troubles.
11I will do this for myself—for me!
I will not let you treat me as if I am not important.
I will not let some false god take my glory and praise.
12“Jacob, listen to me!
Israel, I called you to be my people.
So listen to me!
I am the Beginning,
and I am the End.
13I made the earth with my own hands.
My right hand made the sky.
And if I call them,
they will come to stand before me.
14“All of you, come here and listen to me.
Did any of the false gods say these things would happen? No!
The Lord’s friend#48:14 friend Or “partner.” This probably means Cyrus, king of Persia. He ruled about 550–530 B.C. will do what he wants
to Babylon and the Chaldeans.
15“I told you that I would call him.
I will lead him,
and I will make him succeed.
16Come here and listen to me!
I was there when Babylon began as a nation.
And from the beginning, I spoke clearly
so that people could know what I said.”
Now, the Lord GOD sends me and his Spirit to tell you these things. 17The Lord, the Savior, the Holy One of Israel, says,
“I am the Lord your God.
I teach you for your own good.
I lead you in the way you should go.
18If you had obeyed me,
then peace would have come to you
like a full flowing river.
Good things would have come to you again and again,
like the waves of the sea.
19If you had obeyed me,
you would have had as many children as there are grains of sand.
And they would always have been mine
and would never have been destroyed.”
20My people, leave Babylon!
My people, run from the Chaldeans!
Tell the news with joy.
Spread the news around the world.
Tell them,
“The Lord rescued his servant Jacob.”
21They never got thirsty as he led them through the desert,
because he made water flow from a rock.
He split the rock,
and water flowed out.
22But the Lord also said,
“There is no peace for evil people.”
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Isaiah 48: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 48
48
XLVIII
1Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Ye that are called by the name of Israel,
Ye that flow from the fountain of Judah;
Ye that swear by the name of Jehovah,
And make mention of the God of Israel;
But not in sincerity, nor in truth.
2For they take their name from the Holy City,
And stay themselves upon the God of Israel;
Jehovah of hosts is his name.
3The former events I declared of old;
Yea, from my mouth they proceeded, and I made them known:
On a sudden I effected them, and they came to pass.
4Because I knew that thou wast obstinate,
And thy neck was an iron sinew,
And thy forehead brass;
5Therefore I declared them to thee of old;
Before they came to pass I made them known to thee;
Lest thou shouldest say: Mine idol effected them;
And my graven image, and my molten image, hath ordered them.
6Thou hast heard; have now regard to the whole of it:
And will ye not acknowledge it?
From this time I will make thee hear new things;
Even hitherto secret, so that thou couldest not have known them.
7They are produced now, and not of old;
And before this day thou hast not heard of them:
Lest thou shouldest say: Behold, I knew them.
8Yea, thou hast not heard; yea, thou hast not known;
Yea, from of old thine ear was not opened:
For I knew that thou wouldest certainly deal falsely,
And that Apostate was thy name from the womb.
9For my name's sake I will defer mine anger;
And for the sake of my praise I will withhold it from thee,
That I may not utterly cut thee off.
10Behold, I have purified thee in the fire, but not as silver;
I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction.
11For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned?
And I will not give my glory unto another.
12Hearken unto me, O Jacob,
And Israel, whom I have called:
I am He; I am the first; I also am the last.
13Yea, my hand hath founded the earth,
And my right hand hath expanded the heavens;
When I summon them; they present themselves together.
14Gather yourselves together all of you, and hear:
Who among you hath declared these things?
He, whom Jehovah hath loved, will execute his pleasure on Babylon,
And his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him:
I have brought him, and his way shall be prosperous.
16Draw ye near unto me, and hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it existed, there am I:
And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit
17Thus saith Jehovah,
Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;
I am Jehovah, thy God,
Who teacheth thee what will tend to thy profit;
Who directeth thee in the way wherein thou shouldest go.
18O that thou hadst attended to my commandments!
Then had thy peace been like a river,
And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
19Thy seed also had been as the sand of the sea,
And the offspring of thy bowels as the produce of the bowels thereof;
It should not have been cut off,
Neither its name been destroyed from before me.
20Go ye forth from Babylon,
Flee ye from the Chaldeans with the voice of joy:
Publish ye this, make it to be heard,
Utter it forth even to the end of the earth;
Say ye: Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob,
21And they thirsted not in the desert, through which He led them;
He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them:
Yea, He clave the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.