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Isaiah 48
New English Translation

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48 Listen to this, O family of Jacob,[a]
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah,[b]
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke[c] the God of Israel—
but not in an honest and just manner.[d]
2 Indeed, they live in the holy city;[e]
they trust in[f] the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
3 “I announced events beforehand,[g]
I issued the decrees and made the predictions;[h]
suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
4 I did this[i] because I know how stubborn you are.
Your neck muscles are like iron
and your forehead like bronze.[j]
5 I announced them to you beforehand;
before they happened, I predicted them for you,
so you could never say,
‘My image did these things,
my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’
6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence![k]
Will you not admit that what I say is true?[l]
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.[m]
7 Now they come into being,[n] not in the past;
before today you did not hear about them,
so you could not say,
‘Yes,[o] I know about them.’
8 You did not hear,
you do not know,
you were not told beforehand.[p]
For I know that you are very deceitful;[q]
you were labeled[r] a rebel from birth.
9 For the sake of my reputation[s] I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige[t] I restrain myself from destroying you.[u]
10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you[v] in the furnace of misery.
11 For my sake alone[w] I will act,
for how can I allow my name to be defiled?[x]
I will not share my glory with anyone else![y]
12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
Israel, whom I summoned.
I am the one;
I am present at the very beginning
and at the very end.[z]
13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;
my right hand spread out the sky.
I summon them;
they stand together.
14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them[aa] announced these things?
The Lord’s ally[ab] will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians.[ac]
15 I, I have spoken—
yes, I have summoned him;
I lead him and he will succeed.[ad]
16 Approach me—listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens,[ae] I am there.”
So now, the Sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his Spirit.[af]
17 This is what the Lord, your Protector,[ag] says,
the Holy One of Israel:[ah]
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you how to succeed,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had obeyed my[ai] commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river,[aj]
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.[ak]
19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand,[al]
and your children[am] like its granules.
Their name would not have been cut off
and eliminated from my presence.[an]
20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known—
proclaim it throughout the earth![ao]
Say, ‘The Lord protects[ap] his servant Jacob.
21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;
he makes water flow out of a rock for them;
he splits open a rock and water flows out.’[aq]
22 There will be no prosperity for the wicked,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”
  2. Isaiah 48:1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a variation from an original מִמְּעֵי (mimmeʿe, “from the inner parts of”). The translation above as well as several other translations treat the text this way or understand that this is what the Hebrew phrase figuratively means (cf. HCSB, NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV). Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading and render it literally as “waters.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.
  3. Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”
  4. Isaiah 48:1 tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”
  5. Isaiah 48:2 tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qaraʾ) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.
  6. Isaiah 48:2 tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”
  7. Isaiah 48:3 tn Heb “the former things beforehand I declared.”
  8. Isaiah 48:3 tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth, and I caused them to be heard.”
  9. Isaiah 48:4 tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.
  10. Isaiah 48:4 sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.
  11. Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”
  12. Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”
  13. Isaiah 48:6 tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”
  14. Isaiah 48:7 tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”
  15. Isaiah 48:7 tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”
  16. Isaiah 48:8 tn Heb “beforehand your ear did not open.”
  17. Isaiah 48:8 tn Heb “deceiving, you deceive.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  18. Isaiah 48:8 tn Or “called” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  19. Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”
  20. Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lemaʿan, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
  21. Isaiah 48:9 tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”
  22. Isaiah 48:10 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bekhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
  23. Isaiah 48:11 tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lemaʿani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.
  24. Isaiah 48:11 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).
  25. Isaiah 48:11 sn See 42:8.
  26. Isaiah 48:12 tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”
  27. Isaiah 48:14 sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).
  28. Isaiah 48:14 tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.” sn The Lord’s ally is a reference to Cyrus.
  29. Isaiah 48:14 tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”
  30. Isaiah 48:15 tn Heb “and his way will be prosperous.”
  31. Isaiah 48:16 tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”
  32. Isaiah 48:16 sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.
  33. Isaiah 48:17 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  34. Isaiah 48:17 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  35. Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
  36. Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.
  37. Isaiah 48:18 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
  38. Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”
  39. Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”
  40. Isaiah 48:19 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”
  41. Isaiah 48:20 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
  42. Isaiah 48:20 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
  43. Isaiah 48:21 sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).
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以赛亚书 48
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)

顽梗的以色列

48 “雅各家啊，听我说！
你们被称为以色列人，是犹大的子孙，
凭耶和华的名起誓、
呼求以色列的上帝，
却不真心诚意。
2 你们还自称为圣城的人，
声称倚靠名为万军之耶和华的以色列的上帝。

3 “过去所发生的事，
我很久以前就预言过、
亲口宣告过，
然后使它们瞬间发生。
4 我知道你顽梗，
有铁一般的颈项，
铜一般的额头。
5 所以，在很久以前，
事情还没有发生时就向你预言这些事，
免得你说这些是你的偶像做的，
是你雕刻和铸造的偶像命定的。

6 “你已经听见了，看看这一切，
难道你还不承认吗？
现在我要把新事，把你不知道的隐秘事告诉你。
7 这些事过去没有，现在才有，
在今天以前你从未听过，
免得你说，‘这些事我早就知道了。’
8 你不知道这些事，
甚至闻所未闻。
我知道你生性诡诈，
你自出母胎就被称为悖逆之徒。

9 “我为了我的名，暂时忍怒；
我为了我的荣耀，压住怒气，
不消灭你。
10 看啊，我熬炼你，但不像在火炉中炼银子，
我是在苦难的炉中熬炼你。
11 我这样做是为了自己，
我岂能让自己的名受亵渎，
把自己的荣耀给别人？
12 雅各，我所拣选的以色列啊，
听我说！
我是上帝，我是首先的，
也是末后的。
13 我亲手奠立大地的根基，
我的右手铺展穹苍。
我一呼唤，它们都侍立一旁。

14 “你们一起来听吧。
假神中有谁曾预言过这些事？
耶和华所拣选的人必成就祂的旨意，
他的臂膀必攻击迦勒底人。
15 唯有我说过这些事；
我召了他，领他出来；
他必一路亨通。
16 你们到我跟前来听吧。
我一开始就没有暗地里说话，
事情发生的时候，我就在场。”
现在主耶和华差遣我和祂的灵来。
17 你的救赎主耶和华——以色列的圣者说：
“我是你的上帝耶和华，
我为了使你受益而教导你，
我引导你走当行的路。
18 真希望你当时肯听我的命令！
那样，你的平安必像滚滚河水，
你的公义必如滔滔海浪；
19 你的后裔必多如海沙，
你的子孙必像细沙一样不可胜数，
他们的名号绝不会从我面前被铲除、被消灭。”

20 你们要离开巴比伦，
从迦勒底人那里逃出来。
你们要高声欢呼，向普天下传扬、宣告：
“耶和华救赎了祂的仆人雅各！”
21 耶和华带领他们经过沙漠，
他们也不会口渴。
为了他们，
祂使水从磐石中流出，祂使磐石裂开、涌出水来。
22 耶和华说：“恶人得不到平安。”

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