Isaiah 48:6-8

48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹ 

Will you not admit that what I say is true? ² 

From this point on I am announcing to you new events

that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ³ 

48:7 Now they come into being, ⁴  not in the past;

before today you did not hear about them,

so you could not say,

‘Yes, ⁵  I know about them.’

48:8 You did not hear,

you do not know,

you were not told beforehand. ⁶ 

For I know that you are very deceitful; ⁷ 

you were labeled ⁸  a rebel from birth.

Isaiah 48:14-16

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

Who among them ⁹  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ¹⁰  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ¹¹ 

48:15 I, I have spoken –

yes, I have summoned him;

I lead him and he will succeed. ¹² 

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ¹³  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ¹⁴ 

[48:6]  ¹ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

[48:6]  ² tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

[48:6]  ³ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”

[48:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”

[48:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”

[48:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “beforehand your ear did not open.”

[48:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “deceiving, you deceive.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[48:8]  ⁹ tn Or “called” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[48:14]  ¹⁰ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[48:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his way will be prosperous.”

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

[48:16]  ¹⁷ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.