Isaiah 48:12-52

New International Version

¹⁴ “Come together,^(H) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(I) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(J)
    will carry out his purpose^(K) against Babylon;^(L)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(M) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(N) in his mission.

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(Q)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(R) has sent^(S) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.^(T)

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(U) the Holy One^(V) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(W) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(X) you in the way^(Y) you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention^(Z) to my commands,
    your peace^(AA) would have been like a river,^(AB)
    your well-being^(AC) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants^(AD) would have been like the sand,^(AE)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(AF)
their name would never be blotted out^(AG)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰ Leave Babylon,
    flee^(AH) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(AI)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(AJ)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(AK) his servant Jacob.”
²¹ They did not thirst^(AL) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(AM) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(AN)

²² “There is no peace,”^(AO) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(AP)

⁵ And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(BF) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(BG) to himself,
for I am^[b] honored^(BH) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(BI)—
⁶ he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(BJ)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(BK)
I will also make you a light^(BL) for the Gentiles,^(BM)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(BN)

⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(BO)—
to him who was despised^(BP) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(BQ) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(BR)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(BS)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(BT) you.”

“In the time of my favor^(BU) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(BV)
I will keep^(BW) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(BX)
to restore the land^(BY)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(BZ)
9 to say to the captives,^(CA) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(CB) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(CC)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(CD)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(CE)
He who has compassion^(CF) on them will guide^(CG) them
    and lead them beside springs^(CH) of water.
¹¹ I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(CI) will be raised up.^(CJ)
12 See, they will come from afar^(CK)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(CL)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[c]”

¹³ Shout for joy,^(CM) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(CN)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(CO)
For the Lord comforts^(CP) his people
    and will have compassion^(CQ) on his afflicted ones.^(CR)

¹⁴ But Zion^(CS) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(CT) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(CU) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(CV)
16 See, I have engraved^(CW) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(CX) are ever before me.
¹⁷ Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(CY) depart from you.
¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(CZ) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(DA)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(DB) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹ “Though you were ruined and made desolate^(DC)
    and your land laid waste,^(DD)
now you will be too small for your people,^(DE)
    and those who devoured^(DF) you will be far away.
²⁰ The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(DG)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(DH)
I was bereaved^(DI) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(DJ)
    Who brought these^(DK) up?
I was left^(DL) all alone,^(DM)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(DO) to the peoples;
they will bring^(DP) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(DQ)
23 Kings^(DR) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(DS)
They will bow down^(DT) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(DU) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(DV)
    those who hope^(DW) in me will not be disappointed.^(DX)”

²⁴ Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(DY)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce^[d]?

“Yes, captives^(DZ) will be taken from warriors,^(EA)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(EB)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(EC)
    and your children I will save.^(ED)
26 I will make your oppressors^(EE) eat^(EF) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(EG) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(EH)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(EI)
    your Redeemer,^(EJ) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(EK)”

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce^(EL)
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell^(EM) you?
Because of your sins^(EN) you were sold;^(EO)
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
² When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?^(EP)
Was my arm too short^(EQ) to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength^(ER) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke^(ES) I dry up the sea,^(ET)
    I turn rivers into a desert;^(EU)
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with darkness^(EV)
    and make sackcloth^(EW) its covering.”

⁴ The Sovereign Lord^(EX) has given me a well-instructed tongue,^(EY)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.^(EZ)
He wakens me morning by morning,^(FA)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.^(FB)
5 The Sovereign Lord^(FC) has opened my ears;^(FD)
    I have not been rebellious,^(FE)
    I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat^(FF) me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;^(FG)
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.^(FH)
7 Because the Sovereign Lord^(FI) helps^(FJ) me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,^(FK)
    and I know I will not be put to shame.^(FL)
8 He who vindicates^(FM) me is near.^(FN)
    Who then will bring charges against me?^(FO)
    Let us face each other!^(FP)
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord^(FQ) who helps^(FR) me.
    Who will condemn^(FS) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths^(FT) will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears^(FU) the Lord
    and obeys^(FV) the word of his servant?^(FW)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,^(FX)
trust^(FY) in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,^(FZ)
go, walk in the light of your fires^(GA)
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:^(GB)
    You will lie down in torment.^(GC)

⁴ “Listen to me, my people;^(GQ)
    hear me,^(GR) my nation:
Instruction^(GS) will go out from me;
    my justice^(GT) will become a light to the nations.^(GU)
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
    my salvation^(GV) is on the way,^(GW)
    and my arm^(GX) will bring justice to the nations.
The islands^(GY) will look to me
    and wait in hope^(GZ) for my arm.
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,^(HA)
    the earth will wear out like a garment^(HB)
    and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation^(HC) will last forever,^(HD)
    my righteousness will never fail.^(HE)

⁷ “Hear me, you who know what is right,^(HF)
    you people who have taken my instruction to heart:^(HG)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
    or be terrified by their insults.^(HH)
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;^(HI)
    the worm^(HJ) will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,^(HK)
    my salvation through all generations.”

⁹ Awake, awake,^(HL) arm^(HM) of the Lord,
    clothe yourself with strength!^(HN)
Awake, as in days gone by,
    as in generations of old.^(HO)
Was it not you who cut Rahab^(HP) to pieces,
    who pierced that monster^(HQ) through?
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,^(HR)
    the waters of the great deep,^(HS)
who made a road in the depths of the sea^(HT)
    so that the redeemed^(HU) might cross over?
¹¹ Those the Lord has rescued^(HV) will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;^(HW)
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy^(HX) will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^(HY)

¹² “I, even I, am he who comforts^(HZ) you.
    Who are you that you fear^(IA) mere mortals,^(IB)
    human beings who are but grass,^(IC)
13 that you forget^(ID) the Lord your Maker,^(IE)
    who stretches out the heavens^(IF)
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror^(IG) every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?^(IH)
14     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;^(II)
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread.^(IJ)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea^(IK) so that its waves roar^(IL)—
    the Lord Almighty^(IM) is his name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth^(IN)
    and covered you with the shadow of my hand^(IO)—
I who set the heavens in place,
    who laid the foundations of the earth,^(IP)
    and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.^(IQ)’”

²¹ Therefore hear this, you afflicted^(JI) one,
    made drunk,^(JJ) but not with wine.
²² This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
    your God, who defends^(JK) his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
    the cup^(JL) that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
    you will never drink again.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,^(JM)
    who said to you,
    ‘Fall prostrate^(JN) that we may walk^(JO) on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.”^(JP)

52 Awake, awake,^(JQ) Zion,
    clothe yourself with strength!^(JR)
Put on your garments of splendor,^(JS)
    Jerusalem, the holy city.^(JT)
The uncircumcised^(JU) and defiled^(JV)
    will not enter you again.^(JW)
2 Shake off your dust;^(JX)
    rise up,^(JY) sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,^(JZ)
    Daughter Zion,^(KA) now a captive.

“You were sold for nothing,^(KB)
    and without money^(KC) you will be redeemed.^(KD)”

“At first my people went down to Egypt^(KE) to live;
    lately, Assyria^(KF) has oppressed them.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
    and those who rule them mock,^[f]”
declares the Lord.
“And all day long
    my name is constantly blasphemed.^(KG)
6 Therefore my people will know^(KH) my name;^(KI)
    therefore in that day^(KJ) they will know
that it is I who foretold^(KK) it.
    Yes, it is I.”

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains^(KL)
    are the feet of those who bring good news,^(KM)
who proclaim peace,^(KN)
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”^(KO)
8 Listen! Your watchmen^(KP) lift up their voices;^(KQ)
    together they shout for joy.^(KR)
When the Lord returns^(KS) to Zion,^(KT)
    they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy^(KU) together,
    you ruins^(KV) of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted^(KW) his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.^(KX)
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm^(KY)
    in the sight of all the nations,^(KZ)
and all the ends of the earth^(LA) will see
    the salvation^(LB) of our God.

¹¹ Depart,^(LC) depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing!^(LD)
Come out from it and be pure,^(LE)
    you who carry the articles^(LF) of the Lord’s house.
¹² But you will not leave in haste^(LG)
    or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,^(LH)
    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.^(LI)