NAS - Isaiah Chapter 48 to 50

48 Israel's Obstinacy

¹"Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness. ² "For they call themselves after the holy city And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name. ³"I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. ⁴ "Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, ⁵Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you, So that you would not say, `My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.' ⁶ "You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known. ⁷"They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, So that you will not say, `Behold, I knew them.' ⁸ "You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. ⁹ "For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. ¹⁰ "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹ "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.

Deliverance Promised

¹²"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. ¹³ "Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together. ¹⁴ "Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans. ¹⁵ "I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful. ¹⁶ "Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."

¹⁷Thus 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"If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. ¹⁹ "Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence."

²⁰Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, "The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob." ²¹ They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth. ²² "There is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD.

49 Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth

¹Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me. ² He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. ³He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory." ⁴But I said, "I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God."

⁵And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), ⁶ He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." ⁷ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, "Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."

⁸Thus says the LORD, "In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; ⁹Saying to those who are bound, `Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, `Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, And their pasture will be on all bare heights. ¹⁰ "They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them And will guide them to springs of water. ¹¹ "I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up. ¹² "Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim." ¹³ Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.

Promise to Zion

¹⁴But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me." ¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. ¹⁶ "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. ¹⁷ "Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will depart from you. ¹⁸ "Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live," declares the LORD, "You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride. ¹⁹ "For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land-- Surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who swallowed you will be far away. ²⁰ "The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, `The place is too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here.' ²¹ "Then you will say in your heart, `Who has begotten these for me, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; From where did these come?'"

²²Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My standard to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. ²³ "Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

²⁴"Can the prey be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?" ²⁵Surely, thus says the LORD, "Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons. ²⁶ "I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

50 God Helps His Servant

¹Thus says the LORD, "Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away. ² "Why was there no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water And die of thirst. ³ "I clothe the heavens with blackness And make sackcloth their covering."

⁴The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. ⁵ The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. ⁶I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. ⁷ For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. ⁸He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. ⁹ Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them. ¹⁰Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. ¹¹ Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.