Isaiah 48
1 Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and have come from the waters of Judah, you who swear by the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel—not in truth or righteousness.
2 For they call themselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel—the LORD of Armies is his name.
3 I announced the former things long ago; they came from my mouth, and I made them known. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew you were stubborn: your neck was an iron sinew, and your forehead was bronze.
5 So I announced it to you long ago; before it happened, I told you, so you would not say, “My idol did this; my carved image and cast image commanded it.”
6 You have heard; now look at all this. And you—will you not announce it? From now on I am telling you new things, things kept hidden that you did not know.
7 They were created just now, not long ago; before today you had not heard of them, so you could not say, “Look, I already knew that.”
8 You neither heard nor knew; from long ago your ear was not open. For I knew you would betray me utterly, and that from the womb you were called a rebel.
9 For my name’s sake I delay my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain myself toward you, so as not to destroy you.
10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake I will act. For how could my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.
12 Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am the same; I am the first, and I am also the last.
13 My hand founded the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens. I call to them, and they all stand together.
14 Gather together, all of you, and listen: who among them announced these things? The one the LORD loves will carry out his purpose against Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, I myself have spoken; I have also called him. I have brought him, and he will make his way prosper.
16 Come near to me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it came to be, I have been there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
17 This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is beneficial, who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had listened to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, and the children of your womb like its grains; their name would not have been cut off or wiped out before me.”
20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! Announce this with joyful voices; make it known, carry the news to the ends of the earth. Say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock, split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace, says the LORD, for the wicked.
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