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’s Obstinacy
1“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
2For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
3I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
5Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
6You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7They 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.’
8You have not heard, 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 rebel from birth.
9For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
Deliverance Promised
12“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
13Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
14Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
18If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
20Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
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