48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, 1
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah, 2
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke 3 the God of Israel –
but not in an honest and just manner. 4
48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; 5
they trust in 6 the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord who commands armies.
48:3 “I announced events beforehand, 7
I issued the decrees and made the predictions; 8
suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
48:4 I did this 9 because I know how stubborn you are.
Your neck muscles are like iron
and your forehead like bronze. 10
48:5 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.’
48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! 11
Will you not admit that what I say is true? 12
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 13
48:7 Now they come into being, 14 not in the past;
before today you did not hear about them,
so you could not say,
‘Yes, 15 I know about them.’
48:8 You did not hear,
you do not know,
you were not told beforehand. 16
For I know that you are very deceitful; 17
you were labeled 18 a rebel from birth.
48:9 For the sake of my reputation 19 I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige 20 I restrain myself from destroying you. 21
48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you 22 in the furnace of misery.
48:11 For my sake alone 23 I will act,
for how can I allow my name to be defiled? 24
I will not share my glory with anyone else! 25
48:12 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. 26
48:13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;
my right hand spread out the sky.
I summon them;
they stand together.
48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them 27 announced these things?
The Lord’s ally 28 will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians. 29
48:15 I, I have spoken –
yes, I have summoned him;
I lead him and he will succeed. 30
48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens, 31 I am there.”
So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. 32