Isaiah 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ² 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ³  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ⁴ 

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ⁵  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ⁶ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ⁷  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ⁸  Lud ⁹  (known for its archers ¹⁰ ), Tubal, Javan, ¹¹  and to the distant coastlands ¹²  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

² tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

³ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

⁴ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

⁵ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

⁶ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

⁹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

¹⁰ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

¹¹ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

¹² tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

¹³ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

¹⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV).