Isaiah , Sarah Barry
PEACE LIKE A RIVER
Passage: Isaiah 48:1~22  
Key verse: 17-18
Stubborn Israel48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel(A)
and come from the line of Judah,(B)
you who take oaths(C) in the name of the Lord(D)
and invoke(E) the God of Israel—
but not in truth(F) or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(G)
and claim to rely(H) on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:(I)
3 I foretold the former things(J) long ago,
my mouth announced(K) them and I made them known;
then suddenly(L) I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew how stubborn(M) you were;
your neck muscles(N) were iron,
your forehead(O) was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced(P) them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;(Q)
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,(R)
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created(S) now, and not long ago;(T)
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew(U) of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;(V)
from of old your ears(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(X) you are;
you were called a rebel(Y) from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake(Z) I delay my wrath;(AA)
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.(AB)
10 See, I have refined(AC) you, though not as silver;
I have tested(AD) you in the furnace(AE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?(AG)
I will not yield my glory to another.(AH)
Israel Freed12 “Listen(AI) to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:(AJ)
I am he;(AK)
I am the first and I am the last.(AL)
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,(AM)
and my right hand spread out the heavens;(AN)
when I summon them,
they all stand up together.(AO)
14 “Come together,(AP) all of you, and listen:
Which of the idols has foretold(AQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally(AR)
will carry out his purpose(AS) against Babylon;(AT)
his arm will be against the Babylonians.[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
yes, I have called(AU) him.
I will bring him,
and he will succeed(AV) in his mission.
48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel(A)
and come from the line of Judah,(B)
you who take oaths(C) in the name of the Lord(D)
and invoke(E) the God of Israel—
but not in truth(F) or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(G)
and claim to rely(H) on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:(I)
3 I foretold the former things(J) long ago,
my mouth announced(K) them and I made them known;
then suddenly(L) I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew how stubborn(M) you were;
your neck muscles(N) were iron,
your forehead(O) was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced(P) them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;(Q)
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,(R)
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created(S) now, and not long ago;(T)
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew(U) of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;(V)
from of old your ears(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(X) you are;
you were called a rebel(Y) from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake(Z) I delay my wrath;(AA)
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.(AB)
10 See, I have refined(AC) you, though not as silver;
I have tested(AD) you in the furnace(AE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?(AG)
I will not yield my glory to another.(AH)
12 “Listen(AI) to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:(AJ)
I am he;(AK)
I am the first and I am the last.(AL)
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,(AM)
and my right hand spread out the heavens;(AN)
when I summon them,
they all stand up together.(AO)
14 “Come together,(AP) all of you, and listen:
Which of the idols has foretold(AQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally(AR)
will carry out his purpose(AS) against Babylon;(AT)
his arm will be against the Babylonians.[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
yes, I have called(AU) him.
I will bring him,
and he will succeed(AV) in his mission.
16 “Come near(AW) me and listen(AX) to this:
“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;(AY)
at the time it happens, I am there.”
17 This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer,(BC) the Holy One(BD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches(BE) you what is best for you,
who directs(BF) you in the way(BG) you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention(BH) to my commands,
your peace(BI) would have been like a river,(BJ)
your well-being(BK) like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants(BL) would have been like the sand,(BM)
your children like its numberless grains;(BN)
their name would never be blotted out(BO)
nor destroyed from before me.”
20 Leave Babylon,
flee(BP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy(BQ)
and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;(BR)
say, “The Lord has redeemed(BS) his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst(BT) when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow(BU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
and water gushed out.(BV)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:14 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20
Cross references
- Isaiah 48:1 : S Ge 17:5
- Isaiah 48:1 : S Ge 29:35
- Isaiah 48:1 : S Isa 19:18
- Isaiah 48:1 : S 1Sa 20:42; S Isa 43:7
- Isaiah 48:1 : Ex 23:13; 2Sa 14:11; Ps 50:16; Isa 58:2; Jer 7:9-10; 44:26
- Isaiah 48:1 : Isa 59:14; Jer 4:2; 5:2; Da 8:12; Zec 8:3
- Isaiah 48:2 : S Ne 11:1; S Isa 1:26; S Mt 4:5
- Isaiah 48:2 : S Isa 10:20; Ro 2:17
- Isaiah 48:2 : S Isa 47:4
- Isaiah 48:3 : S Isa 41:22
- Isaiah 48:3 : S Isa 40:21; 45:21
- Isaiah 48:3 : S Isa 17:14; 30:13
- Isaiah 48:4 : S Isa 9:9
- Isaiah 48:4 : S Ex 32:9; S Dt 9:27; Ac 7:51
- Isaiah 48:4 : Eze 3:9
- Isaiah 48:5 : S Isa 40:21; S 42:9
- Isaiah 48:5 : Jer 44:15-18
- Isaiah 48:6 : S Isa 41:22; S Ro 16:25
- Isaiah 48:7 : Isa 65:18
- Isaiah 48:7 : Isa 45:21
- Isaiah 48:7 : S Ex 6:7
- Isaiah 48:8 : S Isa 1:3
- Isaiah 48:8 : S Dt 29:4
- Isaiah 48:8 : Isa 41:24; Mal 2:11, 14
- Isaiah 48:8 : Dt 9:7, 24; Ps 58:3; S Isa 1:2; 43:27; 58:1
- Isaiah 48:9 : S 1Sa 12:22; S Isa 37:35
- Isaiah 48:9 : S Job 9:13; S Isa 30:18
- Isaiah 48:9 : S Ne 9:31
- Isaiah 48:10 : S Isa 1:25; Zec 13:9; Mal 3:3; 1Pe 1:7
- Isaiah 48:10 : S Ex 15:25
- Isaiah 48:10 : S Ex 1:13; S 1Ki 8:51
- Isaiah 48:11 : S 1Sa 12:22; S Isa 37:35
- Isaiah 48:11 : S Lev 18:21; Dt 32:27; Jer 14:7, 21; Eze 20:9, 14, 22, 44
- Isaiah 48:11 : Isa 42:8
- Isaiah 48:12 : S Isa 46:3
- Isaiah 48:12 : Isa 41:8; 42:6; 43:1
- Isaiah 48:12 : S Isa 43:13
- Isaiah 48:12 : S Isa 41:4; S Rev 1:17
- Isaiah 48:13 : Heb 1:10-12
- Isaiah 48:13 : S Ge 2:1; Ex 20:11; Job 9:8; Isa 40:22; S 42:5; 45:18; 51:16; 65:17
- Isaiah 48:13 : S Isa 34:16
- Isaiah 48:14 : S Isa 43:9
- Isaiah 48:14 : S Isa 41:22
- Isaiah 48:14 : S Isa 41:2
- Isaiah 48:14 : Isa 46:10-11
- Isaiah 48:14 : S Isa 21:9; S 45:1; Jer 50:45
- Isaiah 48:15 : S Jdg 4:10; Isa 45:1
- Isaiah 48:15 : Isa 44:28-45:4
- Isaiah 48:16 : S Isa 41:1
- Isaiah 48:16 : S Isa 33:13
- Isaiah 48:16 : S Isa 45:19
- Isaiah 48:16 : Isa 50:5, 7, 9
- Isaiah 48:16 : Zec 2:9, 11
- Isaiah 48:16 : S Isa 11:2
- Isaiah 48:17 : S Job 19:25; Isa 49:7; 54:8
- Isaiah 48:17 : S Isa 47:4
- Isaiah 48:17 : S Isa 28:9; S Jer 7:13
- Isaiah 48:17 : Isa 49:10; 57:18; 58:11
- Isaiah 48:17 : S Isa 30:11
- Isaiah 48:18 : S Isa 42:23
- Isaiah 48:18 : Ps 147:14; S Isa 9:7; 54:13; 66:12
- Isaiah 48:18 : S Isa 33:21
- Isaiah 48:18 : S Isa 1:26; S 45:8
- Isaiah 48:19 : Isa 43:5; 44:3; 61:9
- Isaiah 48:19 : S Ge 12:2
- Isaiah 48:19 : S Job 5:25
- Isaiah 48:19 : Isa 56:5; 65:23; 66:22; Jer 35:19
- Isaiah 48:20 : Isa 52:11; Jer 48:6; 50:8; 51:6, 45; Zec 2:6-7; Rev 18:4
- Isaiah 48:20 : S Isa 12:6; 49:13; 51:11
- Isaiah 48:20 : S Ge 49:10; S Dt 30:4; S Jer 25:22
- Isaiah 48:20 : S Ex 6:6; S Isa 33:24; 52:9; 63:9; Mic 4:10
- Isaiah 48:21 : S Isa 33:16
- Isaiah 48:21 : S Isa 30:25
- Isaiah 48:21 : S Nu 20:11; S Isa 35:6
- Isaiah 48:22 : S Job 3:26
- Isaiah 48:22 : S Isa 3:11; 57:21
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
God is the Creator and Redeemer. He would raise Cyrus who would permit God’s people to return to their homeland. However, Israel was unwilling to listen to God. If only they had paid attention to God’s commands! Their peace would have been like a river, their righteousness like the waves of the sea. Even now, what they most needed was to leave Babylon—its moral and spiritual corruption—for there is no peace for the wicked.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your divine love towards me. Help me to listen to your word and repent so that your peace may fill my heart like a river.
One Word: “Come near me and listen”