Bible Strands
Isaiah 48:20
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks for Yahweh to the exiled Israelites, announcing the imminent end of their captivity in Babylon. The command issues at the moment of departure, just before the wilderness journey detailed in the surrounding context.
The words — The text opens with צְא֣וּ (tze.'U), meaning "go out," and בִּרְח֣וּ (bir.Chu), meaning "flee," which function as direct imperatives ordering physical departure. These verbs establish the action that precedes the public announcement of redemption.
The thread — The imperative to escape Babylon and the Chaldeans reappears in Jeremiah 50:8 and Jeremiah 51:45 as a repeated warning against remaining under judgment. The call to broadcast redemption to the ends of the earth parallels Isaiah 52:9, which directs the same proclamation toward Jerusalem's restoration.
Why it lands — The verse requires immediate physical separation from hostile powers and unambiguous public testimony of divine intervention. Readers are expected to treat deliverance as a completed fact that warrants urgent action and global announcement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 52:9 Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 50:8 Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock.
- Jeremiah 51:45 Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.
- Revelation 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
- Zechariah 2:6 “Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.
- Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
- Exodus 19:4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
- Isaiah 26:1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.
- Isaiah 45:22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.