Isaiah 48 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Israel Must Leave Babylon

48 “Listen to this, house of Jacob—
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from^[a] Judah,^(A)
who swear by the name of Yahweh^(B)
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
²For they are named after the Holy City,
and lean on the God of Israel;^(C)
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
³I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of My mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
⁴Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron^[b]
and your forehead bronze,^(D)
⁵therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’^(E)
⁶You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.^(F)
⁷They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’
⁸You have never heard; you have never known;
For a long time your ears have not been open.
For I knew that you were very treacherous,
and were known as a rebel from birth.^(G)
⁹I will delay My anger for the honor of My name,
and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and for My praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
¹⁰Look, I have refined you,^(H) but not as silver;
I have tested^[c] you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹I will act for My own sake, indeed, My own,^(I)
for how can I^[d] be defiled?
I will not give My glory to another.^(J)

¹²“Listen to Me, Jacob,
and Israel, the one called by Me:
I am He; I am the first,
I am also the last.^(K)
¹³My own hand founded the earth,
and My right hand spread out the heavens;^(L)
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
¹⁴All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols^[e] has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;^[f]
he will accomplish His will against Babylon,^(M)
and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
¹⁵I—I have spoken;
yes, I have called him;^(N)
I have brought him,
and he will succeed in his mission.^(O)
¹⁶Approach Me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;^(P)
from the time anything existed, I was there.”
And now the Lord God
has sent me and His Spirit.^(Q)

¹⁷This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,^(R) the Holy One of Israel^(S) says:

I am Yahweh your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸If only you had paid attention to My commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,^(T)
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.^(U)
¹⁹Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,^(V)
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from My presence.

²⁰Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The Lord has redeemed His servant^(W) Jacob!”
²¹They did not thirst
when He led them through the deserts;
He made water flow for them from the rock;^(X)
He split the rock, and water gushed out.
²²“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.^(Y)