Isaiah 48

ISRAEL MUST LEAVE BABYLON

48“Listen to this, house of Jacob—

those who are called by the name Israel

and have descended from^B Judah,^o

who swear by the name of the Lord^p

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;^q

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^A

and your forehead bronze,^a

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.’^b

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.^c

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.^d

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,^e but not as silver;

I have tested^B you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own,^f

for how can I^C be defiled?

I will not give my glory to another.^g

¹²“Listen to me, Jacob,

and Israel, the one called by me:

I am he; I am the first,

I am also the last.^h

¹³My own hand founded the earth,

and my right hand spread out the heavens;ⁱ

when I summoned them,

they stood up together.

¹⁴All of you, assemble and listen!

Who among the idols^D has declared these things?

The Lord loves him;^E

he will accomplish his will against Babylon,^j

and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.

¹⁵I—I have spoken;

yes, I have called him;^k

I have brought him,

and he will succeed in his mission.^l

¹⁶Approach me and listen to this.

From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;^m

from the time anything existed, I was there.”

And now the Lord God

has sent me and his Spirit.ⁿ

¹⁷This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,^o the Holy One of Israel^p 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,^q

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.^r

¹⁹Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,^s

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^t Jacob!”

²¹They did not thirst

when he led them through the deserts;

he made water flow from the rock for them;^u

he split the rock, and water gushed out.

²²“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.^v