1. Here this, O house of Jacob, the man called by the name of Israel, and from the waters of Judah they have come out; those swearing by the name of Jehovah, and (who) of the God of Israel makes mention, not in truth and not in righteousness. 2. Nor from the Holy City they are called, and upon the God of Israel rely; Jehovah of hosts is His name.
3. The former things since then I declared, and out of My mouth they went forth, and I cause them to be heard; suddenly do I do (them), and they come to pass. 4. Because I know that thou art hard, and an iron sinew (is) thy neck, and thy forehead brass, 5. therefore I told thee long ago; before it comes I have let thee hear (it), lest thou say, My idol did them, my graven image and my molten image ordered them.
6. Thou has heard the (prediction), see all of it accomplished. And ye, will ye not predict (something)? I have made thee to hear new things from now, and (things) kept (in reserve), which thou hast not known. 7. Now they are created, and not of old; before this day thou hast never heard them, lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them. 8. Nay, thou didst not hear; nay, thou didst not know; likewise of old thine ear was not opened; I knew thou wouldst act very treacherously, and Apostate from the womb wast thou called.
9. For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and (for) My praise I will restrain (it) towards thee, so as not to cut thee off. 10. Behold, I have melted thee, and not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do (it)—for how is it profaned!—and My honour to another will I not give.
12. Hearken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called; I am He, I am the First, also I the Last. 13. Also My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread the heavens; I call to them, and they will stand up together. 14. Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among them hath predicted these things? Jehovah loves him; He will do His pleasure in Babylon, and His arm (shall be upon) the Chaldees. 15. I, I have spoken; I have also called him; I have brought him (forth), and he prospers in his way. 16. Draw near unto me! Hear this; not from the beginning in secret have I spoken; from the time of its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit.
17. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, making thee to tread in the way thou shalt go. 18. Oh 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. then should have been like the sand thy seed, and the offspring of thy bowels like (the offspring of) its bowels; his name should not be cut off from before Me.
20. Go forth from Babel! Flee ye from the Chaldeans! With the voice of joy tell this, cause it to be heard, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed His servant Jacob. 21. And they thirsted not in the desert (through which) He made them go; water from a rock He made to flow for them; and He clave the rock, and waters gushed out. 22. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.
XLIX.—[This chapter, like the whole division which it introduces, has for its great theme the relation of the Church to the world, and of Israel to the Gentiles. It opens with an exhibition of the Messiah and His people, under one ideal person, as the great appointed Teacher, Apostle, and Restorer of the apostate nations, vers. 1–9. This is followed by a promise of Divine protection and of glorious enlargement, attended by a joyous revelation in the state of the whole world, vers. 10–16. The doubts and apprehensions of the Church herself are twice recited under different forms, vers. 14, 24, and as often met and silenced, first by repeated and still stronger promises of God’s unchanging love to His people and of their glorious enlargement and success, vers. 15–23; then by an awful threatening of destruction to their enemies and His, vers 25, 26.]
1. Hearken, ye Islands, unto Me, and attend, ye nations from afar. Jehovah from the womb hath called Me, from the bowels of My mother He hath mentioned My name. 2. And He hath rendered My mouth like a sharp sword, and He rendered Me as a polished arrow, in His quiver He has hid Me. 3. And He said to Me, Thou art My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4. And I said, In vain have I toiled, for emptiness and vanity My strength have I consumed; but My right is with Jehovah and My work with My God. 5. And now, saith Jehovah, who formed Me from the womb for a servant to Himself, to restore Jacob to Him, and (yet) Israel will not be gathered—and yet I shall be honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, and My God has (already) been My strength. 6. And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldst be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and the preserved of Israel to restore; and I have given Thee for a light to the Gentiles, to be My salvation even to the end of the earth. 7. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the heartily despised, to the nation exciting abhorrence, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see it, and rise up, princes (shall see) and bow themselves, for the sake of Jehovah who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen Thee. 8. Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour I have heard Thee, and to a day of salvation have I helped Thee; and I will keep Thee, and I will give Thee for a covenant to the people, to raise up the earth, and to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 9. to say to those bound, Come forth, and to (those) who are in darkness, Show yourselves.
On the ways they shall feed, and in all bare hills shall be their pasture. 10. They shall not hunger and they shall not thirst, and there shall not smite them mirage and sun; for He that hath mercy on them shall guide them, and by springs of water shall He lead them. 11. And I will place all mountains for the way, and My roads shall be high. 12. Behold, these from afar shall come, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the land of Sinim. 13. Shout, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, let the mountains burst forth into a shout; because Jehovah has comforted His people, and on His sufferers He will have mercy.