Isaiah 48:14-19

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ¹  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ²  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ³ 

48:15 I, I have spoken –

yes, I have summoned him;

I lead him and he will succeed. ⁴ 

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ⁵  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ⁶ 

48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, ⁷  says,

the Holy One of Israel: ⁸ 

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you how to succeed,

who leads you in the way you should go.

48:18 If only you had obeyed my ⁹  commandments,

prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, ¹⁰ 

deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. ¹¹ 

48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, ¹² 

and your children ¹³  like its granules.

Their name would not have been cut off

and eliminated from my presence. ¹⁴ 

[48:14]  ¹ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ² tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  ³ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[48:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his way will be prosperous.”

[48:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ⁸ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

[48:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[48:17]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[48:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”

[48:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.

[48:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.

[48:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”

[48:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”

[48:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”