Yeshayah 48
1. Hear ye this, O Bais Ya’akov, which are called b’shem Yisroel, and are come forth out of the waters of Yehudah, which take oaths b’Shem Hashem, and invoke Elohei Yisroel, but not in emes, nor in tzedakah.
2. For they call themselves of the Ir HaKodesh, and lean themselves upon Elohei Yisroel; Hashem Tzva’os Shmo.
3. I have declared the rishonot (former things) from long ago; and they went forth out of My mouth, and I made them known; I acted pitom (suddenly), and they came to pass.
4. Because I knew that thou art kesheh (obstinate, stubborn) and thy oref (neck) is sinew of barzel (iron), and thy metzach (brow, forehead) bronze;
5. I have even from long ago preached it to thee; before it came to pass I caused thee to hear it; lest thou shouldest say, Mine atzav (idol) hath done them, and my pesel, and my nesech (molten idol, metal image) hath commanded them.
6. Thou hast heard, look at all this; and will not ye preach it? I have caused thee to hear chadashot (new things) from this time, even netzurot (hidden things) and thou didst not know them.
7. Now they are created, and not from long ago; before today thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Hinei, I knew them.
8. Thou heardest not; thou had no da’as; from of old, thine ozen (ear) was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest deal as a boged (treacherous betrayer), and thou wast called a poshei’a (rebel, transgressor) from the beten (womb, i.e., birth; See Ps 51:5).
9. Lema’an Shmi (for the sake of My Name) will I defer Mine anger, and for My tehillah (praise) will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
10. Hinei, I have refined thee, but not as kesef; I have chosen thee in the furnace of oni (affliction).
11. For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake will I do it; for how can I allow Chillul Hashem? And I will not give My kavod unto another.
12. Pay heed unto Me, O Ya’akov and Yisroel, My called; I am He; I am Rishon, I also am Acharon.
13. Mine Yad also hath laid the foundation of Eretz, and My yamin hath measured Shomayim; when I call them, they stand up together.
14. All ye, assemble yourselves, and listen. Which among them [the pesilim, idols] hath declared these things? Hashem hath loved him [i.e., Cyrus], he will do His chafetz (pleasure, will) on Babylon, and His zero’a shall be on the Kasdim (Chaldeans).
15. I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called him [i.e., Cyrus]; I have brought him, and He shall make his derech successful.
16. Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this; I have not spoken baseter (in secret) merosh (from the first); from the time that it takes place, there am I; and now Adonoi Hashem, and His Ruach [Hakodesh], hath sent Me [Moshiach, the Eved Hashem; see Isaiah 42:1; see Hashem’s Kedushah HaMeshulleshet here].
17. Thus saith Hashem, thy Go’el, the Kadosh Yisroel; I am Hashem Eloheicha thy Melamed (Teacher) of doing that which profiteth, thy Madrikh (Guide, Instructor) in the Derech that thou shouldest go.
18. O if only thou hadst paid heed to My mitzvot! Then had thy shalom been like a nahar, and thy tzedakah as the waves of the yam;
19. Thy zera also had been like the chol (sand), and those that come out of thy loins like me’otav (sands of the sea thereof); his shem should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.
20. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Kasdim (Chaldeans), with a voice of joyful singing declare ye, preach this, send it forth even to the ketzeh ha’aretz; say ye, Hashem hath redeemed His Eved Ya’akov.
21. And they thirsted not when He led them through the deserts; He caused the mayim to flow out of the Tzur for them; He split the Tzur also, and the mayim gushed out.
22. There is no shalom, saith Hashem, unto the resha’im.