Isaiah 48

Common English Bible

²     They are known as residents of the holy city,
        those who depend upon the God of Israel—
        the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
³ Past things I announced long ago;
    from my mouth I proclaimed them.
    I acted suddenly, and they came about.
⁴ Because I know that you are stubborn,
    your neck is made of iron,
    and your forehead is bronze.
⁵ I informed you long ago;
    before they came about I proclaimed them to you
    so you wouldn’t say, “My idol did them;
    my wood statue and metal god commanded them.”
⁶ You’ve heard and seen all this—
    won’t you admit it?
From now on I’ll tell you new things,
    guarded secrets that you don’t know.
⁷ They are created now, not long ago;
    before today you hadn’t heard of them,
    so you won’t say, “I already knew them.”
⁸ You haven’t heard, nor have you known;
    as in ages past your ears are closed,
    because I knew what a traitor you were;
    you were known as a rebel from birth.
⁹ For the sake of my reputation I control my anger;
    for your sake I restrain my powerful radiance
    so as to not destroy you.
¹⁰ See, I have refined you, but not like silver;
    I have tested you^[b] in the furnace of misery.
¹¹ For the sake of my reputation, for my own sake, I will act,
    for why will my name be made impure?
    I won’t give my glory to another.

¹² Listen to me, Jacob;
    Israel, whom I called:
        I am the one;
        I am the first and I am the last.
¹³ My hand founded the earth;
    my strong hand spread out the heavens.
    When I call to them, they all stand up.
¹⁴ Gather yourselves, all of you, and listen.
    Who among you announced these things?
        “The Lord loves him.
        He will do what God wants with Babylon
        and with the descendants^[c] of Chaldea.”
¹⁵ I, I have spoken and told him
    the things that will happen to him;
    I will make him succeed.
¹⁶ Come close to me; listen to this:
    Since the very beginning I haven’t spoken in secret.
    Whenever anything happens, I am there.
    (And now the Lord God has sent me with his spirit.)

¹⁷ The Lord your redeemer,
    the holy one of Israel, proclaims:
    I am the Lord your God
        who teaches you for your own good,
        who leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸ If you would pay attention to my commands,
    your well-being would be like a river,
    and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your offspring would be like the sand,
    and your descendants like its grains.
    Their name would never be eliminated,
        never wiped out from before me.

²⁰ Go out from Babylon;
    flee from the Chaldeans!
Report this with a loud shout, proclaim it;
    broadcast it out to the end of the earth.
    Say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
²¹ They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
    God made water flow from the rock for them;
    split the rock, and water flowed out.
²² There is no well-being, says the Lord, for the wicked.