Isaiah 48

Chapter 48

Israel’s Obstinacy

¹“^aHear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel

And who came forth from the ^1bloins of Judah,

Who ^cswear by the name of the Lord

And invoke the God of Israel,

But not in truth nor in ^drighteousness.

²“For they call themselves after the ^aholy city

And ^blean on the God of Israel;

The Lord of hosts is His name.

³“I ^adeclared the former things long ago

And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.

^bSuddenly I acted, and they ^ccame to pass.

⁴“Because I know that you are ^1aobstinate,

And your ^bneck is an iron sinew

And your ^cforehead bronze,

⁵Therefore I declared them to you long ago,

Before ¹they took place I proclaimed them to you,

So that you would not say, ‘My ^aidol has done them,

And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’

⁶“You have heard; look at all this.

And you, will you not declare it?

I proclaim to you ^anew things from this time,

Even hidden things which you have not known.

⁷“They are created now and not long ago;

And before today you have not heard them,

So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’

⁸“You have not ^aheard, you have not known.

Even from long ago your ear has not been open,

Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;

And you have been called a ^1brebel from ²birth.

⁹“^aFor the sake of My name I ^bdelay My wrath,

And for My praise I restrain it for you,

In order not to cut you off.

¹⁰“Behold, I have refined you, but ^anot as silver;

I have tested you in the ^bfurnace of affliction.

¹¹“^aFor My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;

For how can My name be profaned?

And My ^bglory I will not give to another.

Deliverance Promised

¹²“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel ¹whom I called;

^aI am He, ^bI am the first, I am also the last.

¹³“Surely My hand ^afounded the earth,

And My right hand spread out the heavens;

When I ^bcall to them, they stand together.

¹⁴“^aAssemble, all of you, and listen!

^bWho among them has declared these things?

The Lord loves him; he will ^ccarry out His good pleasure on ^dBabylon,

And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

¹⁵“I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have ^acalled him,

I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

¹⁶“^aCome near to Me, listen to this:

From the first I have ^bnot spoken in secret,

^cFrom the time it took place, I was there.

And now ^dthe Lord ¹God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

¹⁷Thus says the Lord, your ^aRedeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,

Who ^bleads you in the way you should go.

¹⁸“If only you had ^apaid attention to My commandments!

Then your ^1bwell-being would have been like a river,

And your ^crighteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹“Your ^1adescendants would have been like the sand,

And ²your offspring like its grains;

^bTheir name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”

^20aGo forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!

Declare with the sound of ^bjoyful shouting, proclaim this,

^cSend it out to the end of the earth;

Say, “^dThe Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

²¹They did not ^athirst when He led them through the deserts.

He ^bmade the water flow out of the rock for them;

He split the rock and ^cthe water gushed forth.

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