Isaiah 48

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

1 "Hear this, O house of Jacob,

Who are called by the name of Israel,

And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;

Who swear by the name of the Lord,

And make mention of the God of Israel,

But*Is. 58:2; Jer. 4:2; 5:2not in truth or in righteousness;

2 For they call themselves *Is. 52:1; 64:10after the holy city,

And *Is. 10:20; Jer. 7:4; 21:2; Mic. 3:11; Rom. 2:17lean on the God of Israel;

The Lord of hosts is His name:

3 "I have *Is. 44:7, 8; 46:10declared the former things from the beginning;

They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.

Suddenly I did them,*Josh. 21:45; Is. 42:9and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that you were obstinate,

And *Ex. 32:9; Deut. 31:27; Ezek. 2:4; 3:7your neck was an iron sinew,

And your brow bronze,

5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;

Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,

Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,

And my carved image and my molded image

Have commanded them.’

6 "You have heard;

See all this.

And will you not declare it?

I have made you hear new things from this time,

Even hidden things, and you did not know them.

7 They are created now and not from the beginning;

And before this day you have not heard them,

Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’

8 Surely you did not hear,

Surely you did not know;

Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.

For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,

And were called *Deut. 9:7, 24; Ps. 58:3; Is. 46:3, 8a transgressor from the womb.

9 "For*Ps. 79:9; 106:8; Is. 43:25; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44 My name’s sake *(Neh. 9:30, 31); Ps. 78:38; Is. 30:18; 65:8I will defer My anger,

And for My praise I will restrain it from you,

So that I do not cut you off.

10 Behold, *Ps. 66:10; Jer. 9:7I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the *Deut. 4:20; 1 Kin. 8:51; Jer. 11:4furnace of affliction.

11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;

For *Lev. 22:2, 32; Deut. 32:26, 27; Ezek. 20:9how should Myname be profaned?

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

God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel

12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob,

And Israel, My called:

I am He, *Deut. 32:39I am the *Is. 44:6; (Rev. 22:13)First,

I am also the Last.

13 Indeed *Ex. 20:11; Ps. 102:25; Is. 42:5; 45:12, 18; Heb. 1:10–12My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,

And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;

When*Is. 40:26I call to them,

They stand up together.

14 "All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!

Who among them has declared these things?

*Is. 45:1The Lord loves him;

*Is. 44:28; 47:1–15He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,

And His arm shallbeagainst the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken;

Yes, *Is. 45:1, 2I have called him,

I have brought him, and his way will prosper.

16 "Come near to Me, hear this:

*Is. 45:19I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;

From the time that it was, I was there.

And now *Is. 61:1; Zech. 2:8, 9, 11the Lord God and His Spirit

Have sent Me."

17 Thus says *Is. 43:14the Lord, your Redeemer,

The Holy One of Israel:

"I am the Lord your God,

Who teaches you to profit,

*Ps. 32:8; Is. 49:9, 10Who leads you by the way you should go.

18 *Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!

*Deut. 28:1–14; Ps. 119:165; Is. 32:16–18; 66:12Then your peace would have been like a river,

And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 *Gen. 22:17; Is. 10:22; 44:3, 4; 54:3; Jer. 33:22; Hos. 1:10Your descendants also would have been like the sand,

And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;

His name would not have been cut off

Nor destroyed from before Me."

20 *Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Zech. 2:6, 7; Rev. 18:4Go forth from Babylon!

Flee from the Chaldeans!

With a voice of singing,

Declare, proclaim this,

Utter it to the end of the earth;

Say, "The Lord has *(Ex. 19:4–6)redeemed

His servant Jacob!"

21 And they *(Is. 41:17, 18)did not thirst

When He led them through the deserts;

He *Ex. 17:6; Ps. 105:41caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;

He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.

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