VerseAI

NIV

Isaiah 48

  1. 1<pb/><t>“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,</t> <t>you who are called by the name of Israel</t> <t>and come from the line of Judah,</t> <t>you who take oaths in the name of the LORD</t> <t>and invoke the God of Israel—</t> <t>but not in truth or righteousness—</t>
  2. 2<t>you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city</t> <t>and claim to rely on the God of Israel—</t> <t>the LORD Almighty is his name:</t>
  3. 3<t>I foretold the former things long ago,</t> <t>my mouth announced them and I made them known;</t> <t>then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.</t>
  4. 4<t>For I knew how stubborn you were;</t> <t>your neck muscles were iron,</t> <t>your forehead was bronze.</t>
  5. 5<t>Therefore I told you these things long ago;</t> <t>before they happened I announced them to you</t> <t>so that you could not say,</t> <t>‘My images brought them about;</t> <t>my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’</t>
  6. 6<t>You have heard these things; look at them all.</t> <t>Will you not admit them? <pb/>“From now on I will tell you of new things,</t> <t>of hidden things unknown to you.</t>
  7. 7<t>They are created now, and not long ago;</t> <t>you have not heard of them before today.</t> <t>So you cannot say,</t> <t>‘Yes, I knew of them.’</t>
  8. 8<t>You have neither heard nor understood;</t> <t>from of old your ears have not been open.</t> <t>Well do I know how treacherous you are;</t> <t>you were called a rebel from birth.</t>
  9. 9<t>For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;</t> <t>for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,</t> <t>so as not to destroy you completely.</t>
  10. 10<t>See, I have refined you, though not as silver;</t> <t>I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.</t>
  11. 11<t>For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.</t> <t>How can I let myself be defamed?</t> <t>I will not yield my glory to another.</t>
  12. 12<t>“Listen to me, Jacob,</t> <t>Israel, whom I have called:</t> <t>I am he;</t> <t>I am the first and I am the last.</t>
  13. 13<t>My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,</t> <t>and my right hand spread out the heavens;</t> <t>when I summon them,</t> <t>they all stand up together. <pb/></t>
  14. 14<t>“Come together, all of you, and listen:</t> <t>Which of the idols has foretold these things?</t> <t>The LORD’s chosen ally</t> <t>will carry out his purpose against Babylon;</t> <t>his arm will be against the Babylonians.<f>[92]</f></t>
  15. 15<t>I, even I, have spoken;</t> <t>yes, I have called him.</t> <t>I will bring him,</t> <t>and he will succeed in his mission.</t>
  16. 16<pb/>“Come near me and listen to this: <pb/><t>“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;</t> <t>at the time it happens, I am there.” <pb/>And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me,</t> <t>endowed with his Spirit. <pb/></t>
  17. 17<t>This is what the LORD says—</t> <t>your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:</t> <t>“I am the LORD your God,</t> <t>who teaches you what is best for you,</t> <t>who directs you in the way you should go.</t>
  18. 18<t>If only you had paid attention to my commands,</t> <t>your peace would have been like a river,</t> <t>your well-being like the waves of the sea.</t>
  19. 19<t>Your descendants would have been like the sand,</t> <t>your children like its numberless grains;</t> <t>their name would never be blotted out</t> <t>nor destroyed from before me.” <pb/></t>
  20. 20<t>Leave Babylon,</t> <t>flee from the Babylonians!</t> <t>Announce this with shouts of joy</t> <t>and proclaim it.</t> <t>Send it out to the ends of the earth;</t> <t>say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.”</t>
  21. 21<t>They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;</t> <t>he made water flow for them from the rock;</t> <t>he split the rock</t> <t>and water gushed out. <pb/></t>
  22. 22<t>“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”</t>