Isaiah 48 | English Standard Version

English Standard Version

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

1 Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right. (Ps 68:26; Isa 43:1; Jer 7:9) 2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name. (Mic 3:11) 3 “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. (Isa 41:26) 4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, (Ex 32:9) 5 I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’ (Isa 48:3; Jer 44:15) 6 “You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. (Isa 43:19) 7 They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ 8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. (Isa 46:8) 9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. (Mal 3:6) 10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried^[1] you in the furnace of affliction. (De 4:20; Eze 22:18; Eze 22:20; Eze 22:22; 1Pe 1:7)

De 4:20Eze 22:18Eze 22:20Eze 22:221Pe 1:7

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name^[2] be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. (Isa 42:8; Isa 43:25; Eze 20:9)

The Lord’s Call to Israel

12 “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. (Isa 41:4) 13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. (Ps 102:25; Isa 40:26; Isa 51:13; Heb 1:10)

Ps 102:25Isa 40:26Isa 51:13Heb 1:10

14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. (Isa 23:13; Isa 41:26; Isa 46:10; Isa 47:1)

Isa 23:13Isa 41:26Isa 46:10Isa 47:1

15 I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. (Isa 45:1) 16 Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit. (Isa 45:19; Isa 61:1) 17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. 18 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; (De 32:29; Ps 81:13; Isa 66:12; Lu 19:42)

De 32:29Ps 81:13Isa 66:12Lu 19:42

19 your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.” (Ge 22:17; Isa 10:22; Ho 1:10) 20 Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!” (Ex 19:4; Isa 23:13; Isa 35:10; Isa 44:23; Isa 47:1; Isa 52:9; Isa 52:11; Jer 50:8; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:45; Zec 2:6)

Ex 19:4Isa 23:13Isa 35:10Isa 44:23Isa 47:1Isa 52:9Isa 52:11Jer 50:8Jer 51:6Jer 51:45Zec 2:6

21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out. (Ex 17:6; Nu 20:11; De 8:15; Isa 35:6; Isa 43:19; Isa 44:3)

Ex 17:6Nu 20:11De 8:15Isa 35:6Isa 43:19Isa 44:3

22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” (Isa 57:21)

New International Version

Stubborn Israel

1 ‘Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel – but not in truth or righteousness – 2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel – the Lord Almighty is his name: 3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. 4 For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze. 5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, “My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.” 6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? ‘From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. 7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, “Yes, I knew of them.” 8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. 9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. 10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

Israel freed

12 ‘Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. 14 ‘Come together, all of you, and listen: which of the idols has foretold these things? The Lord’s chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[1] 15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission. 16 ‘Come near me and listen to this: ‘From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.’ And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. 17 This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.’ 20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.’ 21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out. 22 ‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’

New International Reader’s Version

Israel is stubborn

1 People of Jacob, listen to me. You are called by the name of Israel. You come from the family line of Judah. You make promises in the name of the LORD. You pray to Israel’s God. But you aren’t honest. You don’t mean what you say. 2 You call yourselves citizens of the holy city of Jerusalem. You say you depend on Israel’s God. His name is the LORD Who Rules Over All. He says, 3 ‘Long ago I told you in advance what would happen. I announced it and made it known. Then all of a sudden I acted. And those things took place. 4 I knew how stubborn you were. Your neck muscles were as unbending as iron. Your forehead was as hard as bronze. 5 So I told you those things long ago. Before they happened I announced them to you. I did it so you would not be able to say, “My statues of gods did them. My wooden and metal gods made them happen.” 6 You have heard me tell you these things. Think about all of them. Won’t you admit they have taken place? ‘From now on I will tell you about new things that will happen. I have not made them known to you before. 7 These things are taking place at this very moment. They did not happen long ago. You have not heard of them before today. So you can’t say, “Oh, yes. I already knew about them.” 8 You have not heard or understood what I said. Your ears have been plugged up for a long time. I knew very well that you would turn against me. From the day you were born, you have refused to obey me. 9 For the honour of my own name I wait to show my anger. I hold it back from you so people will continue to praise me. I do not want to destroy you completely. 10 I have tested you in the furnace of suffering. I have tried to make you pure. But I did not use as much heat as it takes to make silver pure. 11 I tried to purify you for my own honour. I did it for the honour of my name. How can I let myself be dishonoured? I will not give up my glory to any other god.

Israel is set free

12 ‘Family of Jacob, listen to me. People of Israel, pay attention. I have chosen you. I am the first and the last. I am the LORD. 13 With my own hand I laid the foundations of the earth. With my right hand I spread out the heavens. When I send for them, they come and stand ready to obey me. 14 ‘People of Israel, come together and listen to me. What other god has said in advance that certain things would happen? I have chosen Cyrus. He will carry out my plans against Babylon. He will use his power against the Babylonians. 15 I myself have spoken. I have chosen him to carry out my purpose. I will bring him to Babylon. He will succeed in what I tell him to do. 16 ‘Come close and listen to me. ‘From the first time I said Cyrus was coming, I did not do it in secret. When he comes, I will be there.’ The LORD and King has filled me with his Spirit. People of Israel, he has sent me to you. 17 The LORD is the Holy One of Israel. He sets his people free. He says to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. I teach you what is best for you. I direct you in the way you should go. 18 I wish you would pay attention to my commands. If you did, peace would flow over you like a river. Godliness would sweep over you like the waves of the ocean. 19 Your family would be like the sand. Your children after you would be as many as the grains of sand by the sea. It would be impossible to count them. I would always accept the members of your family line. They would never disappear or be destroyed.’ 20 People of Israel, leave Babylon! Hurry up and get away from the Babylonians! Here is what I want you to announce. Make it known with shouts of joy. Send the news out from one end of the earth to the other. Say, ‘The LORD has set free his servant Jacob.’ 21 They didn’t get thirsty when he led them through the deserts. He made water flow out of the rock for them. He broke the rock open, and water came out of it. 22 ‘There is no peace for those who are evil,’ says the LORD.

King James Version

1 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. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 3 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. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 For my name' sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 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. 12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 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. 14 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. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16 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. 17 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. 18 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: 19 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 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. 21 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. 22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

Einheitsübersetzung 2016

Rückblick auf die Zeit im Exil

1 Hört dies, Haus Jakob, / die sich nach dem Namen Israels nennen / und aus den Wassern Judas hervorgegangen sind, die schwören beim Namen des HERRN / und den Gott Israels bekennen, / aber nicht in Wahrheit und Gerechtigkeit! 2 Ja, nach der Heiligen Stadt nennen sie sich / und stützen sich auf den Gott Israels, / HERR der Heerscharen ist sein Name. 3 Was früher war, hatte ich schon längst im Voraus verkündet, / es kam aus meinem Mund, ich ließ es hören; / plötzlich habe ich gehandelt und es traf ein. (Isa 43:9) 4 Weil ich wusste, dass du halsstarrig bist, / dass dein Nacken eiserne Sehnen hat / und deine Stirn aus Bronze ist, 5 hatte ich es dir schon längst im Voraus verkündet; / ich ließ es dich hören, bevor es geschah, damit du nicht sagst: Mein Götterbild hat das vollbracht, / mein geschnitztes und gegossenes Bild hat es befohlen. 6 Du hast es gehört. Betrachte dies alles! / Und ihr, wollt ihr nicht verkünden? Von jetzt an lasse ich dich etwas Neues hören, / etwas Verborgenes, von dem du nichts weißt. (Isa 42:9) 7 Eben erst ist es erschaffen, / nicht schon vor langer Zeit. Zuvor hast du nichts erfahren davon, / damit du nicht sagst: / Das habe ich längst schon gewusst. 8 Du hast davon nichts gehört und gewusst, / dein Ohr war von Anfang an nicht offen. Denn ich wusste, dass du völlig treulos bist, / man nennt dich abtrünnig vom Mutterleib an. 9 Doch um meines Namens willen / halte ich meinen Zorn lange zurück, um meines Ruhmes willen halte ich an mich zu deinen Gunsten, / um dich nicht vernichten zu müssen. 10 Siehe, ich habe dich geläutert, doch nicht um Silber: / Ich habe dich erwählt im Schmelzofen des Elends. (De 4:20) 11 Nur um meinetwillen handle ich, / denn sonst würde mein Name entweiht; / ich überlasse die Ehre, die mir gebührt, keinem andern. (Isa 42:8)

Kyrus, der Beauftragte des Herrn

12 Höre auf mich, Jakob, / Israel, mein Berufener: / Ich bin es, ich, der Erste und auch der Letzte. (Isa 44:6) 13 Meine Hand hat die Fundamente der Erde gelegt, / meine Rechte hat den Himmel ausgespannt; / ich rief ihnen zu und schon standen sie alle da. (Ps 33:9) 14 Versammelt euch alle und hört - / wer von ihnen hat so etwas jemals verkündet? -: Der, den der HERR liebt, wird meinen Willen an Babel vollstrecken / und sein Arm wird es an den Chaldäern bewirken. 15 Ich, ich habe gesprochen und ich habe ihn auch berufen, / ich habe ihn kommen lassen / und er wird seinen Weg erfolgreich beenden. 16 Kommt her zu mir und hört dies: / Ich habe von Anfang an nicht im Verborgenen geredet; / seit das alles geschieht, bin ich dabei. / Und jetzt hat GOTT, der Herr, mich und seinen Geist gesandt. (Isa 45:19)

Lehre aus der Vergangenheit

17 So spricht der HERR, dein Erlöser, / der Heilige Israels: Ich bin der HERR, dein Gott, / der dich lehrt, was Nutzen bringt, und der dich auf den Weg führt, / den du gehen sollst. 18 Hättest du doch auf meine Gebote geachtet! / Dein Heil wäre wie ein Strom / und deine Gerechtigkeit wie die Wogen des Meeres. (De 5:29; Ps 81:14) 19 Deine Nachkommen wären wie der Sand / und die Sprösslinge deines Leibes wie seine Körner. / Ihr Name wäre in meinen Augen nicht getilgt und gelöscht. (Ge 22:17)

AUSZUG DES GOTTESKNECHTS JAKOB AUS BABEL

Auszug aus Babel

20 Zieht aus Babel aus, flieht aus Chaldäa! / Verkündet es jauchzend, lasst dies hören, tragt es hinaus bis ans Ende der Erde! / Sagt: Der HERR hat seinen Knecht Jakob ausgelöst. (Isa 52:11; Jer 51:6; Re 18:4) 21 Sie litten keinen Durst, als er sie durch die Wüsten führte; / Wasser ließ er für sie aus dem Felsen sprudeln, / er spaltete den Felsen und es strömte das Wasser. (Ex 17:6) 22 Kein Friede den Frevlern!, spricht der HERR. (Isa 57:21)