Isaiah 47:1-15
Babylon Will Fall
“City of Babylon,
go down and sit in the dust.
Leave your throne and sit on the ground.
Queen city of the Babylonians,
your life will not be comfortable
and easy anymore.
Get millstones and grind some flour like a female slave.
Take off your veil.
Lift up your skirts. Make your legs bare.
Wade through the streams.
Everyone will see your naked body.
Everyone will see your shame.
I will pay you back for what you did.
I will not spare any of your people.”
The one who sets us free is the Holy One of Israel.
His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
The Lord says, “Queen city of the Babylonians,
go into a dark prison. Sit there quietly.
You will not be called
the queen of kingdoms anymore.
I was angry with my people.
I treated them as if they did not belong to me.
I handed them over to you.
And you did not show them any pity.
You even placed heavy loads on their old people.
You said, ‘I am queen forever!’
But you did not think about what you were doing.
You did not consider how things might turn out.
“So listen, you who love pleasure.
You think you are safe and secure.
You say to yourself,
‘I am like a god.
No one is greater than I am.
I’ll never be a widow.
And my children will never be taken away from me.’
But both of these things will happen to you in a moment.
They will take place on a single day.
You will lose your children.
And you will become a widow.
That is what will happen to you.
All your evil magic
and powerful spells will not save you.
You have felt secure in your evil ways.
You have said, ‘No one sees what I’m doing.’
Your wisdom and knowledge lead you astray.
You say to yourself,
‘I am like a god. No one is greater than I am.’
So horrible trouble will come on you.
You will not know how to use your evil magic to make it go away.
Great trouble will fall on you.
No amount of money can keep it away.
Something terrible will happen to you all at once.
You will not see it coming ahead of time.
“So keep on casting your magic spells.
Keep on practicing your evil magic.
You have been doing those things ever since you were a child.
Perhaps they will help you.
Maybe they will scare your enemies away.
All the advice you have received
has only worn you out!
Let those who study the heavens come forward.
They claim to know what is going to happen
by watching the stars every month.
So let them save you from the trouble
that is coming on you.
They are just like straw.
Fire will burn them up.
They can’t even save themselves
from the powerful flames.
These are not like coals that can warm anyone.
This is not like a fire to sit by.
They can’t do you any good.
You have done business with them ever since you were a child.
You have always asked them for advice.
All of them are bewildered and continue in their own ways.
None of them can save you.”
Isaiah 48:1-22
Israel Is Stubborn
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.
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,
“Long ago I told you ahead of time what would happen.
I announced it and made it known.
Then all of a sudden I acted.
And those things took place.
I knew how stubborn you were.
Your neck muscles were as unbending as iron.
Your forehead was as hard as bronze.
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.’
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.
These things are taking place right now.
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.’
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.
For the honor 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.
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.
I tried to purify you for my own honor.
I did it for the honor of my name.
How can I let myself be dishonored?
I will not give up my glory to any other god.
Israel Is Set Free
“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.
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.
“People of Israel, come together and listen to me.
What other god has said ahead of time 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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
“There is no peace for those who are evil,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 49:1-7
The Servant of the Lord
People who live on the islands, listen to me.
Pay attention, you nations far away.
Before I was born the Lord chose me to serve him.
Before I was born the Lord spoke my name.
He made my words like a sharp sword.
He hid me in the palm of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow.
He took good care of me and kept me safe.
He said to me, “You are my true servant Israel.
I will show my glory through you.”
But I said, “In spite of my hard work,
I feel as if I haven’t accomplished anything.
I’ve used up all my strength.
It seems as if everything I’ve done is worthless.
But the Lord will give me what I should receive.
My God will reward me.”
The Lord formed me in my mother’s body to be his servant.
He wanted me to bring the family of Jacob back to him.
He wanted me to gather the people of Israel to himself.
The Lord will honor me.
My God will give me strength.
Here is what the Lord says to me.
“It is not enough for you as my servant
to bring the tribes of Jacob back to their land.
It is not enough for you to bring back
the people of Israel I have kept alive.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles.
Then you will make it possible for the whole world to be saved.”
The Lord sets his people free.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
He speaks to his servant, who is looked down on and hated by the nations.
He speaks to the servant of rulers. He says to him,
“Kings will see you and stand up to honor you.
Princes will see you and bow down to show you their respect.
I am the Lord. I am faithful.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
I have chosen you.”
