Isaiah 48
What Happens in This Chapter
God speaks to the people of Israel, who use his name but do not mean it. He reminds them that he told them long ago what would happen, so they could not credit their idols. He says he holds back his anger for the sake of his own name, and that he has tested them in hard times. He tells them to leave Babylon singing, and ends by saying there is no peace for the wicked.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
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. Your family line came from Judah. You make promises using the LORD's name. You talk 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, Jerusalem. You lean on the God of Israel. His name is the LORD of Hosts, the God who leads great 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 I made it known. Then all at once I did it, and it came true.
4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
4I knew you would be stubborn. Your neck is stiff like iron. Your forehead is hard like metal.
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 said it before it happened. That way you could not say, "My idol did this. My statue made it happen."
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 this. Now look at it. Will you not say it is true? From now on I will tell you new things. They are 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.
7These things are made now, not long ago. You never heard about them before today. So you cannot say, "I already knew that."
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 closed for a long time. I knew you would not keep your word. You have been called a rebel since 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 I will wait before I show my anger. I do this for my own name. I hold back so that I am praised. I will not cut you off.
10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
10Look, I have put you through fire to make you clean. But it was not the way people clean silver. I chose you in the furnace of hard times.
Long ago, people melted metal in a very hot fire. The fire burned away the dirt and left the metal clean. That is the picture here.
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. I will not let my name be shamed. I will not give 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 set the earth in place. My right hand spread out the heavens. 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, come together and listen. Which of the idols told you these things ahead of time? The LORD loves the man he has chosen. That man will do what God wants to Babylon. God's power will be against the people of Babylon.
"Him" means the leader God picked to defeat Babylon. Earlier in this book he is named Cyrus, a king from another land.
15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
15I am the one who spoke. Yes, I called him. I brought him here. He will do well at the job I gave him.
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. I have never spoken in secret. From the time it began, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit is with me.
In this verse the speaker changes. Someone says that God has sent him. The text does not say who he is.
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. He is your Redeemer, the one who buys you back and sets you free. He is the Holy One of Israel. He says, "I am the LORD your God. I teach you what is good for you. I lead you 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 like a river. Your good living would have rolled on like waves in 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 and their children would be like the sand. They would be too many to count, like tiny stones on the shore. Their name would never be wiped out in front of me.
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 away from the people of Babylon! Sing out loud as you tell the news. Tell it everywhere, all the way 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 dry desert. He made water come out of a rock for them. He split the rock open, and water rushed out.
22There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
22"There is no peace for people who do wrong," says the LORD.
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