Isaiah 48:10-13

48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have purified you ¹  in the furnace of misery.

48:11 For my sake alone ²  I will act,

for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ³ 

I will not share my glory with anyone else! ⁴ 

48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,

Israel, whom I summoned!

I am the one;

I am present at the very beginning

and at the very end. ⁵ 

48:13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;

my right hand spread out the sky.

I summon them;

they stand together.

[48:10]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.

[48:11]  ² tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.

[48:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).

[48:11]  ⁴ sn See 42:8.

[48:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”