Isaiah 47-48

New International Version

⁴ Our Redeemer^(M)—the Lord Almighty^(N) is his name^(O)—
    is the Holy One^(P) of Israel.

⁵ “Sit in silence,^(Q) go into darkness,^(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;^(S)
no more will you be called
    queen^(T) of kingdoms.^(U)
6 I was angry^(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;^(W)
I gave them into your hand,^(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.^(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
⁷ You said, ‘I am forever^(Z)—
    the eternal queen!’^(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(AB) on what might happen.^(AC)

⁸ “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security^(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(AE)
I will never be a widow^(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
⁹ Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children^(AH) and widowhood.^(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.^(AK)
10 You have trusted^(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(AM)
Your wisdom^(AN) and knowledge mislead^(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹ Disaster^(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(AQ) come upon you.

¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³ All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(AS)
    Let your astrologers^(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble;^(AV)
    the fire^(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵ That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(AZ) you.

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(BR)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷ They are created^(BS) now, and not long ago;^(BT)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(BU) of them.’
⁸ You have neither heard nor understood;^(BV)
    from of old your ears^(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(BX) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(BY) from birth.
⁹ For my own name’s sake^(BZ) I delay my wrath;^(CA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(CB)
10 See, I have refined^(CC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(CD) you in the furnace^(CE) of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake,^(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(CG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(CH)

¹⁴ “Come together,^(CP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(CR)
    will carry out his purpose^(CS) against Babylon;^(CT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[b]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(CU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(CV) in his mission.

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

And now the Sovereign Lord^(CZ) has sent^(DA) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.^(DB)

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(DC) the Holy One^(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(DE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(DF) you in the way^(DG) you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention^(DH) to my commands,
    your peace^(DI) would have been like a river,^(DJ)
    your well-being^(DK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants^(DL) would have been like the sand,^(DM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(DN)
their name would never be blotted out^(DO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

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

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