Isaiah 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

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

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah,

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner.

Isaiah 48:17-18

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

the Holy One of Israel:

“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 commandments,

prosperity would have flowed to you like a river,

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


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

tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿe, “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 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

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

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

tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”

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.

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