Isaiæ 48
1 Audite haec domus Iacob, qui vocamini nomine Israel, et de aquis Iuda existis, qui iuratis in nomine Domini, et Dei Israel recordamini non in veritate, neque in iustitia.
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 De civitate enim sancta vocati sunt, et super Deum Israel constabiliti sunt: Dominus exercituum nomen eius.
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 Priora ex tunc annunciavi, et ex ore meo exierunt, et audita feci ea: repente operatus sum, et venerunt.
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 Scivi enim quia durus es tu, et nervus ferreus cervix tua, et frons tua aerea.
I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.
5 Praedixi tibi ex tunc: antequam venirent indicavi tibi, ne forte diceres: Idola mea fecerunt haec, et sculptilia mea, et conflatilia mandaverunt ista.
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 Quae audisti, vide omnia: vos autem num annunciastis? Audita feci tibi nova ex tunc, et conservata sunt quae nescis:
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 nunc creata sunt, et non ex tunc: et ante diem, et non audisti ea, ne forte dicas: Ecce ego cognovi ea.
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 Neque audisti, neque cognovisti, neque ex tunc aperta est auris tua: scio enim quia praevaricans praevaricaberis, et transgressorem ex utero vocavi te.
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 Propter nomen meum longe faciam furorem meum: et laude mea infrenabo te, ne intereas.
But because of my nature I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.
10 Ecce excoxi te, sed non quasi argentum, elegi te in camino paupertatis.
Look how I've refined you, but not like silver—I chose you in the furnace of trouble.
11 Propter me, propter me faciam, ut non blasphemer: et gloriam meam alteri non dabo.
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 Audi me Iacob, et Israel quem ego voco: ego ipse, ego primus, et ego novissimus.
Listen to me, Jacon, and Israel, the one I called. Only I am God. I am the first, and I am the last.
13 Manus quoque mea fundavit terram, et dextera mea mensa est caelos: ego vocabo eos, et stabunt simul.
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 Congregamini omnes vos, et audite: quis de eis annunciavit haec? Dominus dilexit eum, faciet voluntatem suam in Babylone, et brachium suum in Chaldaeis.
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 Ego ego locutus sum, et vocavi eum: adduxi eum, et directa est via eius.
I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.
16 Accedite ad me, et audite hoc: non a principio in abscondito locutus sum: ex tempore antequam fieret, ibi eram: et nunc Dominus Deus misit me, et spiritus eius.
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 Haec dicit Dominus redemptor tuus sanctus Israel: Ego Dominus Deus tuus docens te utilia, gubernans te in via, qua ambulas.
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 Utinam attendisses mandata mea: facta fuisset sicut flumen pax tua, et iustitia tua sicut gurgites maris.
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 et fuisset quasi arena semen tuum, et stirps uteri tui ut lapilli eius: non interisset, et non fuisset attritum nomen eius a facie mea.
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 Egredimini de Babylone, fugite a Chaldaeis, in voce exultationis annunciate: auditum facite hoc, et efferte illud usque ad extrema terrae. Dicite: Redemit Dominus servum suum Iacob.
Leave Babylon! Run away from Babylonia with happy shouts! Let everyone know, telling the whole earth, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 Non sitierunt in deserto, cum educeret eos: aquam de petra produxit eis, et scidit petram, et fluxerunt aquae.
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 Non est pax impiis, dicit Dominus.
The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.
