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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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 48
48
1“Hear this, house of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel,
and have come out of the waters of Judah.
You swear by Yahweh’s name,
and make mention of the God of Israel,
but not in truth, nor in righteousness—
2for they call themselves citizens of the holy city,
and rely on the God of Israel;
Yahweh of Armies is his name.
3I have declared the former things from of old.
Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them.
I did them suddenly, and they happened.
4Because I knew that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew,
and your brow bronze;
5therefore I have declared it to you from of old;
before it came to pass I showed it to you;
lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them.
My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them.’
6You have heard it.
Now see all this.
And you, won’t you declare it?
“I have shown you new things from this time,
even hidden things, which you have not known.
7They are created now, and not from of old.
Before today, you didn’t hear them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8Yes, you didn’t hear.
Yes, you didn’t know.
Yes, from of old your ear was not opened,
for I knew that you dealt very treacherously,
and were called a transgressor from the womb.
9For my name’s sake, I will defer my anger,
and for my praise, I hold it back for you
so that I don’t cut you off.
10Behold, I have refined you,
but not as silver.
I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11For my own sake,
for my own sake, I will do it;
for how would my name be profaned?
I will not give my glory to another.
12“Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel my called:
I am he.
I am the first.
I am also the last.
13Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand has spread out the heavens.
when I call to them, they stand up together.
14“Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
He whom Yahweh loves will do what he likes to Babylon,
and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15I, even I, have spoken.
Yes, I have called him.
I have brought him
and he shall make his way prosperous.
16“Come near to me and hear this:
“From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time that it happened, I was there.”
Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me
with his Spirit.
17Yahweh,
your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“I am Yahweh your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you by the way that you should go.
18Oh that you had listened to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19Your offspring also would have been as the sand
and the descendants of your body like its grains.
His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”
20Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With the sound of joyful shouting announce this,
tell it even to the end of the earth;
say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21They didn’t 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“There is no peace”, says Yahweh, “for the wicked.”
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