Isaiah 48

Israel Must Leave Babylon

¹“Listen to this, house of Jacob —

those who are called by the name Israel

and have descended from ^a Judah, ^b

who swear by the name of the Lord^c

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; ^d

his name is the Lord of Armies.

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 ^e

and your forehead bronze, ^f

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.’ ^g

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. ^h

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. ⁱ

⁹I will delay my anger for the sake 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, ^j but not as silver;

I have tested ^k you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own, ^l

for how can I ^m be defiled?

I will not give my glory to another. ⁿ

¹²“Listen to me, Jacob,

and Israel, the one called by me:

I am he; I am the first,

I am also the last. ^o

¹³My own hand founded the earth,

and my right hand spread out the heavens; ^p

when I summoned them,

they stood up together.

¹⁴All of you, assemble and listen!

Who among the idols ^q has declared these things?

The Lord loves him; ^r

he will accomplish his will against Babylon, ^s

and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.

¹⁵I #— #I have spoken;

yes, I have called him; ^t

I have brought him,

and he will succeed in his mission. ^u

¹⁶Approach me and listen to this.

From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; ^v

from the time anything existed, I was there.”

And now the Lord God

has sent me and his Spirit. ^w

¹⁷This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, ^x the Holy One of Israel ^y says:

I am the Lord 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, ^z

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. ^aa

¹⁹Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, ^ab

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 ^ac Jacob! ”

²¹They did not thirst

when he led them through the deserts;

he made water flow from the rock for them; ^ad

he split the rock, and water gushed out.

²²“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord. ^ae