God Speaks to Israel
Listen to this, house of Jacob. You are called by the name Israel. You came from the land of Judah. You make promises using the Lord’s name and talk about the God of Israel. But you don’t make promises in truth or do right. You call yourselves people of the holy city. But you don’t depend on the God of Israel. He is the Lord of armies. The Lord of armies is his name.
I told you about things that would happen before. They came out of my mouth and I showed them. I showed them suddenly. I did this because I knew you are stubborn. Your neck is like iron and your forehead is like brass. From the beginning I told you these things. Before they happened I showed them to you. I did this so you wouldn’t say: 'My idol did these things. My carved statue or metal statue commanded them.'
You have seen and heard all this. Won’t you tell others about it? I have shown you new things from this time. They are hidden things you didn’t know. They are created now, not from the beginning. Before you heard them, they were told to you. This was so you wouldn’t say: 'I already knew them.' You didn’t hear and you didn’t know. From that time your ear was not open. I knew you would be very unfaithful. You were called a sinner from birth.
God’s Mercy Despite Their Sin
But I will hold back my anger for my name’s sake. I will hold back for my praise so I don’t destroy you. I have made you better. I have chosen you in hard times. For my own sake I will do this. I will not let my name be ruined. I will not give my glory to another.
The First and the Last
Listen to me, Jacob and Israel, my chosen people. I am he. I am the first and I am also the last. My hand made the foundation of the earth. My right hand stretched out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand up together.
All of you, come together and listen. Which of them has told you these things? The Lord has loved him. He will keep his word that he spoke through them. He will do what he wants to Babylon. His power will come on the Chaldeans. The Lord says: I the Lord have spoken. I have called him to tell about what I have done. He will be successful.
Come close to me. From the beginning I have not spoken in secret. From the time it was told, I have spoken. The Lord God and his Spirit have sent me. The Lord, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel says: I have sent him, the Lord your God. He teaches you what is helpful. He leads you the way you should go.
If Only You Had Listened
If you had listened to my commands! Then your peace would have been like a river. Your righteousness would have been like the waves of the sea. Your children would have been like the sand. Your descendants would have been like the gravel. Your name would not have been cut off or destroyed.
Leave Babylon
Go out of Babylon. Run away from the Chaldeans. Tell this with singing voices. Announce this to the end of the earth. Say: 'The Lord has saved his servant Jacob.' They were not thirsty. He led them through the deserts. He made water flow out of the rock for them. He split the rock and water poured out.
Even though he has done all this and more, the Lord says there is no peace for wicked people.
Influences
- 20:1 — Isaiah 48:1 (KJV)Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
- 20:2 — Isaiah 48:2 (KJV)For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
- 20:3 — Isaiah 48:3 (KJV)I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
- 20:4 — Isaiah 48:4 (KJV)Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
- 20:5 — Isaiah 48:5 (KJV)I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
- 20:6 — Isaiah 48:6 (KJV)Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
- 20:7 — Isaiah 48:7 (KJV)They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
- 20:8 — Isaiah 48:8 (KJV)Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
- 20:9 — Isaiah 48:9 (KJV)For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
- 20:10 — Isaiah 48:10 (KJV)Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
- 20:11 — Isaiah 48:11 (KJV)For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
- 20:12 — Isaiah 48:12 (KJV)Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
- 20:13 — Isaiah 48:13 (KJV)Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
- 20:14 — Isaiah 48:14 (KJV)All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
- 20:15 — Isaiah 48:15 (KJV)I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
- 20:16 — Isaiah 48:16 (KJV)Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
- 20:17 — Isaiah 48:17 (KJV)Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
- 20:18 — Isaiah 48:18 (KJV)O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
- 20:19 — Isaiah 48:19 (KJV)Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
- 20:20 — Isaiah 48:20 (KJV)Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
- 20:21 — Isaiah 48:21 (KJV)And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.