Isaiah 48

1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

Listen to this, descendants of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and who come from the lineage of Judah. Listen, you people who swear by the name of the Lord, or who invoke the God of Israel, but not truly or sincerely.

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

You say you're from the “Holy City,” and claim you're trusting in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth from my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

I predicted long ago what was going to happen—I said it and let people know. Then suddenly I decided to act, and it all came true.

4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.

5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, My idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

I predicted these things to you long ago, before they happened. I explained them to you so that you couldn't say “My idol did this,” or “My image and my metal god ordered this to happen.”

6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have showed ye new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

You've heard all I predicted, and seen it happen. Won't you admit it? Now I'm going to tell you new things, secrets you don't know anything about.

7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

These are brand-new, not something from the past. Before today you won't have heard anything about them, so you can't say, “Oh yes, I know about that.”

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thy ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

No, you've never heard that, and you've never known that! Nobody's told you about that before! I know how deviously you operate—you're called “rebels from birth”!

9 For my name’s sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I restrain it for thee, that I cut thee not off.

But because of my nature I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Look how I've refined you, but not like silver—I chose you in the furnace of trouble.

11 For my own sake, even for my own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be profaned? and I will not give my glory to another.

The reason I'm doing this is because of who I am, yes, because of my very nature. I won't let my reputation be damaged—I won't let anyone else have it.

12 Hearken to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Listen to me, Jacon, and Israel, the one I called. Only I am God. I am the first, and I am the last.

13 My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

I laid the foundations of the earth with my own hands; I personally spread out the heavens. When I call the stars, they all take their positions.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

Everyone gather round and listen. Which of your “gods” told you anything like this? The one the Lord loves will carry out the Lord's wishes against Babylon—he will attack the Babylonians.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.

16 Come ye near to me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

Come close to me, and listen to this. From the very beginning I haven't spoken in secret; I am always there right when it happens. Now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me to tell you this:

17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God. I am the one who teaches you what is good for you, who leads you along the way you should go.

18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

If you had only listened carefully to what I told you! Then your blessings would have flowed like a river, and goodness would have washed over you like the waves of the sea.

19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy body like its gravel; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

Your children, your descendants, would have been like all those grains of sand. They wouldn't have had to be destroyed, wiped out before me.

20 Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

Leave Babylon! Run away from Babylonia with happy shouts! Let everyone know, telling the whole earth, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

They weren't thirsty when he led them through the desert—he made water come out of the rock for them. He split the rock open and water poured out.

22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, to the wicked.

The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.