Isaiah 48

1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And from the waters of Judah came out, Who are swearing by the name of Jehovah, And of the God of Israel make mention, 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 from the Holy City they have been called, And on the God of Israel been supported, Jehovah 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 The former things from that time I declared, And from my mouth they have gone forth, And I proclaim them, Suddenly I have done, and it cometh.

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 From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,

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

5 And I declare to thee from that time, Before it cometh I have caused thee to hear, Lest thou say, 'Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image, And my molten image did command 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 the whole of it, And ye, do ye not declare? I have caused thee to hear new things from this time, And things reserved that ye knew not.

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 Now they have been produced and not from that time, Yea, before the day, and thou hast not heard them, Lest thou say, 'Lo, I have known 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 hast not heard, Yea, thou hast not known, Yea, from that time not opened hath thine ear, For I have known thou dealest treacherously, And 'Transgressor from the belly,' One is crying to thee.

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 I defer Mine anger, And My praise I restrain for thee, So as not to cut thee off.

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

10 Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction.

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

11 For My sake, for Mine own sake, I do [it], For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not.

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 one, I [am] He, I [am] first, and I [am] 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 Also, My hand hath founded earth, And My right hand stretched out the heavens, I am calling unto them, they stand 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 Be gathered all of you, and hear, Who among them did declare these things? Jehovah hath loved him, He doth His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm [is 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 — I have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him in, And he hath made prosperous his way.

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

16 Come ye near unto me, hear this, Not from the beginning in secret spake I, From the time of its being, there [am] I, And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit.

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 said Jehovah, thy redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, 'I [am] Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, Causing thee to tread in the way thou goest.

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 attended to My commands, Then as a river is thy peace, And thy righteousness as billows 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 And as sand is thy seed, And the offspring of thy bowels as its gravel, Not cut off nor destroyed his name 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 out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, With a voice of singing declare, Cause ye this to be heard, Bring it forth unto the end of the earth, Say, Redeemed hath Jehovah 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 have not thirsted in waste places, He hath caused them to go on, Waters from a rock he hath caused to flow to them, Yea, he cleaveth a rock, and flow do waters.

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, said Jehovah, to the wicked!

The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.