Isaiah 48:1–49:12
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But anot in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves bafter the holy city,
And clean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have ddeclared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, eand they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were 1obstinate,
And fyour neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called ga transgressor from the womb.
9 “For hMy name’s sake iI will 2defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, jI have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the kfurnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For lhow should My name be profaned?
And mI will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed pMy hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When qI call to them,
They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
rThe Lord loves him;
sHe shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
Yes, tI have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
uI have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now vthe Lord God and His Spirit
3Have sent Me.”
17 Thus says wthe Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
xWho leads you by the way you should go.
18 yOh, that you had heeded My commandments!
zThen your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 aYour descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 bGo forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has credeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they ddid not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He ecaused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “There fis no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
49 “Listen, aO coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
bThe Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the 1matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made cMy mouth like a sharp sword;
dIn the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me ea polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
f‘You are My servant, O Israel,
gIn whom I will be glorified.’
4 hThen I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my 2just reward is with the Lord,
And my 3work with my God.’ ”
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel iis 4gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a jlight to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
The Redeemer of Israel, 5their Holy One,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
l“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
“In an macceptable 7time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will 8preserve You nand give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate 9heritages;
9 That You may say oto the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither phunger nor thirst,
qNeither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them rwill lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 sI will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely tthese shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”