God Rules His World

48 The Lord says, “Family of Jacob, listen to me! You people call yourself ‘Israel.’ You are from Judah’s family. You use the Lord’s name to make promises. You praise the God of Israel. But you are not honest and sincere when you do these things.” ²Yes, they are citizens of the Holy City.*They depend on the God of Israel. The Lord All-Powerful is his Name. ³“Long ago I told you about the things that would happen. I told you about those things. And then suddenly, I made them happen. ⁴I did that because I knew you were stubborn. {You refused to believe anything I said}. You were very stubborn—like iron {that does not bend} and as hard as bronze. ⁵So, a long time ago I told you what would happen. I told you about those things a long time before they happened. I did this so that you could not say, ‘The gods we made did.’ I did this so that you could not say, ‘Our idols, our statues, made these things happen.’”

God Punishes Israel to Make Them Pure

⁶“You saw and heard what happened. So you should tell the news to other people. Now I will tell you about new things—things that you don’t know yet. ⁷These are not things that happened long ago. These are things that are happening now. You haven’t heard about these things before today. So you can’t say, ‘We already knew that.’ ⁸“But even then, you didn't listen to me! You didn‘t learn anything! You refused to listen to anything I told you. I have known since the beginning that you would be against me. You have rebelled against me from the time you were born. ⁹But, I will be patient. I will do this for myself. People will praise me for not getting angry and destroying you. You will praise me for waiting. ¹⁰“Look, I will make you pure. People use a hot fire to make silver pure. But I will make you pure by giving you troubles. ¹¹I will do this for myself—for me! You will not treat me like I am not important! I will not let some false god take my glory and praise! ¹²“Jacob, listen to me! Israel, I called you to be my people. So listen to me! I am the Beginning! And I am the End! ¹³I made the earth with my own hands. My right hand made the sky. And if I call them, they will come together before me. ¹⁴“All of you, come here and listen to me! Did any of the false gods say these things would happen? No!” The person that the Lord chose* will do whatever he wants to Babylon and the Chaldeans. ¹⁵{The Lord says,} “I told you I would call him.* And I will bring him! I will make him succeed! ¹⁶Come here and listen to me! I was there when Babylon began as a nation. And from the beginning, I spoke clearly, so that people could know what I said.” {Then Isaiah said,} “Now, the Lord my Master sends me and his Spirit {to tell you these things}. ¹⁷The Lord, the Savior, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the Lord your God. I teach you to do things that are helpful. I lead you in the way you should go. ¹⁸If you had obeyed me, then peace would have come to you like a full flowing river. Good things would have come to you again and again, like the waves of the sea. ¹⁹If you had obeyed me, then you would have had many children. They would have been like the many grains of sand. If you had obeyed me, then you would not have been destroyed. You would have continued with me.” ²⁰My people, leave Babylon! My people, run from the Chaldeans! Tell this news with joy to the people! Spread this news to the faraway places on earth! Tell the people, “The Lord rescued his servant Jacob! ²¹The Lord led his people through the desert, and they never became thirsty! Why? Because he made water flow from a rock for his people! He split the rock, and water flowed out!” ²²But the Lord also said, “There is no peace for evil people!”

daughter of the Chaldeans This is another name for the city Babylon. Holy City That is, Jerusalem. chose Or, “loves.” him This is probably talking about Cyrus. Cyrus was a king of Persia that lived about 150 years after Isaiah died.

God Calls His Special Servant

49 All you people in faraway places, listen to me! Listen all of you people living on earth! The Lord called me to serve him before I was born. The Lord called my name while I was still in my mother’s body. ²{The Lord uses me to speak for him.} He uses me like a sharp sword, {But he also protects me,} hiding me in his hand. The Lord uses me like a sharp arrow, but he also hides me in his arrow bag. ³{The Lord} told me, “Israel, you are my servant. I will do wonderful things with you.” ⁴I said, “I worked hard for nothing. I wore myself out, but I did nothing useful. I used all my power, but I did not really do anything. So, the Lord must decide what to do with me. God must decide my reward. ⁵The Lord made me in my mother’s body so I could be his servant, and lead Jacob and Israel back to him. The Lord will honor me. I will get my strength from my God.” The Lord told me, ⁶“You are a very important servant to me. The people of Israel are prisoners, but they will be brought back to me. Jacob’s family groups will come back to me. But, you have another job; it is even more important than this! I will make you a light for all nations. You will be my way to save all the people on earth.” ⁷The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, the Protector of Israel says, “My Servant is humble. He serves rulers. But people hate him. But, kings will see him, and stand {to honor him}. Great leaders will bow down to him.” This will happen because the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, wants it. And the Lord can be trusted. He is the One who chose you.

The Day of Salvation

⁸The Lord says, “There will be a special time when I show my kindness. At that time I will answer your prayers. There will be a special day when I save you. At that time I will help you. I will protect you. And you will be the proof that I have an Agreement with the people. The country is destroyed now, but you will give that land back to the people who own it. ⁹You will tell the prisoners, ‘Come out of your prison!’ You will tell the people that are in darkness, ‘Come out of the dark!’ The people will eat while traveling. They will have food even on empty hills. ¹⁰The people will not be hungry. They will not be thirsty. The hot sun and wind will not hurt them. Why? Because God comforts them and God will lead them. He will lead them near springs of water. ¹¹“I will make a road for my people. The mountains will be made flat, and the low roads will be raised. ¹²“Look! People are coming to me from faraway places. People are coming to me from the north and from the west. People are coming to me from Aswan in Egypt.” ¹³Heavens and Earth, be happy! Mountains, shout with joy! Why? Because the Lord comforts his people. The Lord is good to his poor people.

Zion, The Abandoned Woman

¹⁴But now Zion* says, “The Lord left me. My Master forgot me.” ¹⁵{But I say}, “Can a woman forget her baby? No! Can a woman forget the child that came from her body? No! A woman can’t forget her children. And I (the Lord) can’t forget you. ¹⁶Look, I have carved your name into my hand. I think about you all the time!* ¹⁷Your children will come back to you. People defeated you, but those people will leave you alone.”

Israel’s People Return

¹⁸Look up! Look all around you! All of your children are gathering together and coming to you. The Lord says, “On my life, I promise you this: Your children will be like jewels that you tie around your neck. Your children will be like the necklace that a bride wears. ¹⁹You are destroyed and defeated now. Your land is useless. But after a short time, you will have many people in your land. And the people that destroyed you will be far, far away. ²⁰You were sad for the children you lost, but those children will tell you, ‘This place is too small! Give us a bigger place to live!’ ²¹Then you will say to yourself, ‘Who gave me all these children? This is very good! I was sad and lonely. I was defeated and away from my people. So who gave me these children? Look, I was left alone. Where did all these children come from?’” ²²The Lord my Master says, “Look, I will wave my hand to the nations. I will raise my flag for all people to see. Then they will bring your children to you. Those people will carry your children on their shoulders, and they will hold them in their arms. ²³Kings will be teachers to your children. Kings’ daughters will care for them. Those kings and their daughters will bow down to you. They will kiss the dirt at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Then you will know that any person who trusts in me will not be disappointed.” ²⁴When a strong soldier wins wealth in war, you can’t take that wealth from him. When a powerful soldier guards a prisoner, that prisoner can’t escape. ²⁵But the Lord says, “The prisoners will escape. Someone will take those prisoners away from the strong soldier. {How will this happen?} I will fight your fights. I will save your children. ²⁶“Those people hurt you. But I will force those people to eat their own bodies. Their own blood will be the wine that makes them drunk. Then every person will know that the Lord saved you. All people will know that the Powerful One of Jacob saved you.”

Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem. I … time Or, “I see your figure before me always.” This is a word play. The Hebrew word “figure” also means “walls."

Israel Punished Because of Their Sin

50 The Lord says, “{People of Israel, you say that I divorced your mother, Jerusalem.} But where is the legal paper that proves I divorced her? My children, did I owe money to someone? Did I sell you to pay a debt? No! You were sold because of the bad things you did. Your mother (Jerusalem) was sent away because of the bad things you did. ²I came home and found no one there. I called and called, but no one answered. Do you think I am not able to save you? I have the power to save you from all of your troubles. Look, if I command the sea to dry up, then it will become dry! The fish will die without water, and their bodies will rot. ³I can make the skies dark. I can cover the skies in darkness as black as the clothes of sadness.”

God’s Servant Truly Depends on God

⁴The Lord my Master gave me the ability to teach. So now I teach these sad people. Every morning he wakes me and teaches me like a student. ⁵The Lord my Master helps me learn, and I have not turned against him. I will not stop following him. ⁶I will let those people beat me. I will let them pull the hair from my beard. I will not hide my face when they say bad things to me and spit at me. ⁷The Lord my Master will help me. So the bad things they say will not hurt me. I will be strong. I know I will not be disappointed. ⁸The Lord is with me. He shows I am innocent. So no person will be able to show I am guilty. If someone wants to try to prove I am wrong, that person should come to me, and we will have a trial. ⁹But look, the Lord my Master helps me. So no person can show me to be evil. All those people will become like worthless old clothes. Moths will eat them. ¹⁰The people that respect the Lord also listen to his servant. That servant lives completely trusting in God without knowing what will happen. He truly trusts in the Lord’s name, and that servant depends on his God. ¹¹“Look, {you people want to live your own ways}. You light your own fires and torches (lights). So, {live your own way}. But, you will be punished! You will fall into your fires and torches and you will be burned. I will make that happen.”