Isaiah 48
48
The LORD Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon
1Listen to this, descendants of Jacob!
You are given the name of Israel.
You are descended from Judah.#48:1 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text “the fountain of Judah.”
You take oaths by the name of the Lord.
You acknowledge the God of Israel,
but you are not honest or sincere.
2You call yourselves ⌞citizens⌟ of the holy city.
You depend on the God of Israel.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
3From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen.
These words came out of my mouth,
and I made them known.
Suddenly, I acted, and they happened.
4I know that you are stubborn.
Like iron, you are hardheaded.
Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.
5That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.
I told you about them before they happened.
⌞I did this⌟ so you couldn’t say,
“My gods have done these things.
My carved idols and my metal idols
have commanded them to happen.”
6You’ve heard these words.
Now look at all this.
Won’t you admit it?
From now on I will reveal to you new things,
hidden things that you do not know.
7They are created now, not in the past.
You haven’t heard about them before today,
so you can’t say that you already knew about them.
8You have never heard about them.
You have never known about them.
Your ears have never been open to hear them before.
I know that you’ve acted very treacherously
and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.
9For my name’s sake I’ll be patient.
For my glory’s sake I’ll hold my anger back from you,
rather than destroy you.
10I have refined you,
but not like silver.
I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
11I am doing this for myself, only for myself.
Why should my name be dishonored?
I will not give my glory to anyone else.
12Listen to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called.
I am the one.
I am the first and the last.
13My hand laid the foundation of the earth.
My right hand stretched out the heavens.
When I call for them, they both stand.
14Gather together, all of you, and listen.
What idol has revealed such things?
The Lord loves Cyrus.
He will carry out the Lord’s plan against Babylon.
He will use his strength against the Babylonians.
15I alone have spoken.
I have called him.
I will bring him here, and he will succeed.
16Come here. Listen to this:
From the beginning I have spoken nothing in private.
From the time it took place, I was there.
Now the Almighty Lord has sent me and his Spirit.
17This is what the Lord, your Defender, the Holy One of Israel, says:
I am the Lord your God.
I teach you what is best for you.
I lead you where you should go.
18If only you had listened to my commands!
Your peace would be like a river ⌞that never runs dry⌟.
Your righteousness would be like waves on the sea.
19Your descendants would be like sand.
Your children would be like its grains.
Their names would not be cut off or wiped out in my presence.
20Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians!
Shout for joy as you tell it and announce it.
Shout it out to the ends of the earth.
Say that the Lord has reclaimed his servant Jacob.
21They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow from a rock for them.
He split a rock, and water gushed out.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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