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The Lord Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon

48 Listen to this, descendants of Jacob!
    You are given the name of Israel.
    You are descended from Judah.[a]
    You take oaths by the name of Yahweh.
    You acknowledge the Elohim of Israel,
        but you are not honest or sincere.
You call yourselves citizens of the holy city.
    You depend on the Elohim of Israel.
        His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth.

From 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.
I know that you are stubborn.
    Like iron, you are hardheaded.
    Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.
That 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.”
You’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.
They 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.
You 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.
For 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.
10 I have refined you,
    but not like silver.
    I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
11 I am doing this for myself, only for myself.
    Why should my name be dishonored?
    I will not give my glory to anyone else.

12 Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called.
        I am the one.
            I am the first and the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth.
    My right hand stretched out the heavens.
    When I call for them, they both stand.
14 Gather together, all of you, and listen.
    What idol has revealed such things?
    Yahweh loves Cyrus.
    He will carry out Yahweh’s plan against Babylon.
    He will use his strength against the Babylonians.
15 I alone have spoken.
    I have called him.
        I will bring him here, and he will succeed.

16 Come here. Listen to this:
    From the beginning I have spoken nothing in private.
    From the time it took place, I was there.

Now Adonay Yahweh has sent me and his Ruach.

17 This is what Yahweh, your Go’el, Qedosh Yisrael, says:

I am Yahweh your Elohim.
    I teach you what is best for you.
    I lead you where you should go.
18 If 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.
19 Your 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.
20 Leave 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 Yahweh has reclaimed his servant Jacob.
21 They 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 Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:1 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text “the fountain of Judah.”

Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel(A)
    and come from the line of Judah,(B)
you who take oaths(C) in the name of the Lord(D)
    and invoke(E) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth(F) or righteousness—
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(G)
    and claim to rely(H) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:(I)
I foretold the former things(J) long ago,
    my mouth announced(K) them and I made them known;
    then suddenly(L) I acted, and they came to pass.
For I knew how stubborn(M) you were;
    your neck muscles(N) were iron,
    your forehead(O) was bronze.
Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced(P) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;(Q)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,(R)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
They are created(S) now, and not long ago;(T)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew(U) of them.’
You have neither heard nor understood;(V)
    from of old your ears(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(X) you are;
    you were called a rebel(Y) from birth.
For my own name’s sake(Z) I delay my wrath;(AA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.(AB)
10 See, I have refined(AC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested(AD) you in the furnace(AE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?(AG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.(AH)

Israel Freed

12 “Listen(AI) to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:(AJ)
I am he;(AK)
    I am the first and I am the last.(AL)
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,(AM)
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;(AN)
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.(AO)

14 “Come together,(AP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold(AQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally(AR)
    will carry out his purpose(AS) against Babylon;(AT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called(AU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed(AV) in his mission.

16 “Come near(AW) me and listen(AX) to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;(AY)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord(AZ) has sent(BA) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.(BB)

17 This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,(BC) the Holy One(BD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches(BE) you what is best for you,
    who directs(BF) you in the way(BG) you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention(BH) to my commands,
    your peace(BI) would have been like a river,(BJ)
    your well-being(BK) like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants(BL) would have been like the sand,(BM)
    your children like its numberless grains;(BN)
their name would never be blotted out(BO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

20 Leave Babylon,
    flee(BP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy(BQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;(BR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed(BS) his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst(BT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow(BU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.(BV)

22 “There is no peace,”(BW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(BX)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:14 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

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

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

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

13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which 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.

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

16 Come ye near unto 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.

17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest 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:

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

20 Go ye forth of 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.

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 clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.