Skip to reading
Atomic Bible
Isaiah

Chapter 48

Israel’s Stubbornness and Deliverance Promised to Israel

Isaiah 48 binds rebuke and redemption together as the LORD confronts Israel's stubbornness, exposes the emptiness of boastful religion, and explains why He declared events in advance to a people inclined toward idols and treachery. The chapter then turns toward deliverance, with God asserting His unique sovereignty as Creator and Lord of history, lamenting the peace Israel forfeited through disobedience, and finally calling His people to leave Babylon under the banner of His redeeming power.

This chapter matters because it shows that God's saving action is not detached from His moral case against His people. Isaiah 48 explains that the same God who disciplines for His own name also reveals, teaches, summons, and redeems, so that deliverance from Babylon becomes both a display of divine faithfulness and a summons to leave wickedness behind.

2 sections·170 words·~1 min read

Begin reading Zoom into first section
Reader

Isaiah 48

A continuous BSB reading flow. Turn on the guide when you want authored orientation; leave it off when you simply want the text.

vv. 1-11

Israel’s Stubbornness

Open section

“1Listen to this, O house of Jacob, 2who indeed call yourselves after the holy city 3I foretold the former things long ago; 4For I knew that you are stubborn; 5Therefore I declared it to you long ago;

6You have heard these things; look at them all. 7They are created now, and not long ago; 8You have never heard; you have never understood;

9For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath; 10See, I have refined you, but not as silver; 11For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act;

vv. 12-22

Deliverance Promised to Israel

Open section

L12isten to Me, O Jacob, 13Surely My own hand founded the earth, 14Come together, all of you, and listen: 15I, even I, have spoken; 16Come near to Me and listen to this:

17Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, 18If only you had paid attention to My commandments, 19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,

20Leave Babylon! 21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; 22“There is no peace,” says the LORD,

Section map

Open the closer view when you want it.

Each section keeps the passage focused, adds summaries and cross references, and gives verse-level links.

  1. 01vv. 1-11Israel’s StubbornnessThe opening movement addresses Israel as a people who invoke the holy city and the God of Israel while remaining hard, treacherous, and resistant in heart. The LORD explains that He announced former things long beforehand so they could not credit idols, reveals new things they had not known, and delays wrath for His own name while refining them in affliction rather than giving His glory to another.
  2. 02vv. 12-22Deliverance Promised to IsraelThe closing movement calls Jacob to listen to the One who is first and last, whose hand founded the earth and whose word summons creation to stand. The LORD announces that He has called and prospered His chosen instrument against Babylon, reminds Israel that He teaches them for their good, laments the peace they would have known through obedience, and then commands them to depart Babylon with songs of redemption while warning that the wicked still have no peace.
Previous Chapter 47All 66 chapters in IsaiahNextChapter 49