Isaiah

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.

1Listen to this, family of Jacob. You are called by the name Israel, and you come from the line of Judah. You make promises using the LORD's name and you speak about the God of Israel. But you do not mean it, and you do not live right.

2For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

2You call yourselves people of the holy city, and you lean on the God of Israel for help. His name is the LORD of Heaven's Armies.

3I 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.

3Long ago I told you what was going to happen. I said it out loud and made it known. Then all at once I acted, and it happened.

4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

4I did that because I knew how stubborn you are. Your neck is stiff as iron, and your forehead is hard as bronze.

NoteA neck like iron and a forehead like bronze is a word picture. It means someone who will not bend and will not back down.

5I 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.

5So I told you long ago. I announced it before it happened. That way you could not say, 'My idol did this. My carved statue and my metal statue ordered it.'

6Thou 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.

6You have heard all of this. Now look at it. Will you not admit that it is true? From now on I will tell you new things, hidden things you did not know.

7They 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.

7They are being made now, not long ago. You had not heard about them before today. So you cannot say, 'I knew that already.'

8Yea, 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.

8You never heard it. You never understood it. Your ears have been shut for a long time. I knew you would break your word again and again. You have been called a rebel since the day you were born.

9For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

9But for the sake of my own name, I will hold my anger back. So that I will still be praised, I will hold back and not wipe you out.

10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

10Look, I have put you through the fire, but not the way silver is refined. I tested you in a furnace of suffering.

11For 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.

11I will act for my own sake. Yes, for my own sake. I will not let my name be dragged through the mud. I will not hand my glory to anyone else.

12Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

12Listen to me, Jacob. Listen, Israel, the people I called. I am the one. I am the first, and I am the last.

13Mine 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.

13My own hand laid the foundation of the earth. My right hand spread out the sky. When I call them, they stand up together.

14All 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.

14All of you, gather together and listen. Which of the idols ever announced these things? The LORD loves the man he has chosen. That man will do what the LORD wants against Babylon, and the LORD's strength will fall on the Chaldeans.

NoteThe Chaldeans were the people who ruled Babylon. The two names point to the same power.

15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

15I myself have spoken. Yes, I called him. I brought him here, and he will succeed at what I sent him to do.

16Come 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.

16Come close to me and listen to this. From the beginning I have not spoken in secret. From the time it started, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit is with me.

17Thus 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.

17This is what the LORD says, the one who buys you back, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God. I teach you what is good for you. I lead you in the way you should go.

18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

18If only you had listened to my commands! Then your peace would have flowed on like a river. Your right living would have rolled in like waves on the sea.

19Thy 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.

19Your children would have been like the grains of sand, too many to count. Their name would never have been cut off or wiped out from in front of me.

NoteThe KJV says "the offspring of thy bowels." In 1611 "bowels" meant the inside of the body, so this just means your own children.

20Go 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.

20Leave Babylon! Run from the Chaldeans! Shout the news out with singing. Tell it. Send it to the ends of the earth. Say, 'The LORD has set his servant Jacob free!'

21And 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.

21They were not thirsty when he led them through the deserts. He made water flow out of the rock for them. He split the rock open, and water gushed out.

22There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

22There is no peace for the wicked, says the LORD.