Discovery BoxIsaiah 48:10-13 
Context48:10 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.
1 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
2 tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.
3 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).
5 tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”
