Isaiah 48

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,

*ch. 43:1who are called by the name of Israel,

and *Ps. 68:26who came from the waters of Judah,

*Jer. 7:9who swear by the name of the Lord

and confess the God of Israel,

but not in truth or right.

2 For they call themselves after the holy city,

*[Mic. 3:11]and stay themselves on the God of Israel;

the Lord of hosts is his name.

3 "The former things *ch. 41:26I declared of old;

they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;

then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

4 Because I know that *[Ex. 32:9]you are obstinate,

and your neck is an iron sinew

and your forehead brass,

5 *[See ver. 3above] I declared them to you from of old,

before they came to pass I announced them to you,

lest you should say, *See Jer. 44:15-17‘My idol did them,

my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’

6 "You have heard; now see all this;

and will you not declare it?

From this time forth *See ch. 43:19I announce to you new things,

hidden things that you have not known.

7 They are created now, not long ago;

before today you have never heard of them,

lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’

8 You have never heard, you have never known,

from of old your ear has not been opened.

For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,

and that *ch. 46:8from before birth you were called a rebel.

9 *[Mal. 3:6]"For my name’s sake I defer my anger;

for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,

that I may not cut you off.

10 Behold, I have refined you, *[1 Pet. 1:7] but not as silver;

*[Deut. 4:20;Ezek. 22:18,20,22]I have tried*48:10 Or I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

11 *ch. 43:25;Ezek. 20:9For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

for how should my name*48:11 Hebrew lacks my name be profaned?

*ch. 42:8My glory I will not give to another.

The Lord’s Call to Israel

12 "Listen to me, O Jacob,

and Israel, whom I called!

I am he; *See ch. 41:4I am the first,

and I am the last.

13 My hand *ch. 51:13;[Ps. 102:25;Heb. 1:10] laid the foundation of the earth,

and my right hand *ch. 51:13;[Ps. 102:25;Heb. 1:10] spread out the heavens;

*[ch. 40:26]when I call to them,

they stand forth together.

14 "Assemble, all of you, and listen!

*[ch. 41:26] Who among them has declared these things?

The Lord loves him;

*ch. 46:10,11he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,

and his arm shall be against *ch. 23:13;47:1the Chaldeans.

15 *See ch. 45:1-3I, even I, have spoken and called him;

I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.

16 *ch. 45:19Draw near to me, hear this:

from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,

from the time it came to be I have been there."

And now *ch. 61:1the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.

17 Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

"I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you to profit,

who leads you in the way you should go.

18 *Ps. 81:13;Luke 19:42;[Deut. 32:29] Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!

*ch. 66:12Then your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;

19 *ch. 10:22;Gen. 22:17;Hos. 1:10your offspring would have been like the sand,

and your descendants like its grains;

their name would never be cut off

or destroyed from before me."

20 *ch. 52:11;Jer. 50:8;51:6,45;Zech. 2:6,7Go out from Babylon, flee from *ch. 23:13;47:1Chaldea,

declare this *[ch. 35:10;52:9] with a shout of joy, proclaim it,

send it out to the end of the earth;

say, *ch. 44:23;[Ex. 19:4-6]"The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!"

21 *[ch. 35:6;44:3;Deut. 8:15] They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;

*ch. 43:19;Ex. 17:6;Num. 20:11he made water flow for them from the rock;

he split the rock and the water gushed out.

22 *ch. 57:21"There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."