Isaiah 48

1 “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

Give ear to this, O family of Jacob, you who are named by the name of Israel, and have come out of the body of Judah; who take oaths by the name of the Lord, and make use of the name of the God of Israel, but not truly and not in good faith.

2 who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

For they say that they are of the holy town, and put their faith in the God of Israel: the Lord of armies is his name.

3 I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

I gave word in the past of the things which came about; they came from my mouth, and I made them clear: suddenly I did them, and they came about.

4 For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;

5 Therefore I declared it to you long ago; I announced it before it came to pass, so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this; my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’

For this reason I made it clear to you in the past, before it came I gave you word of it: for fear that you might say, My god did these things, and my pictured and metal images made them come about.

6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.

All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge.

7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot claim, ‘I already knew them!’

They have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of them.

8 You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.

Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.

9 For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath; for the sake of My praise I will restrain it, so that you will not be cut off.

Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.

10 See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.

11 For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.

For myself, even because of my name, I will do it; for I will not let my name be shamed; and my glory I will not give to another.

12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.

Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; I am he, I am the first and I am the last.

13 Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.

Yes, by my hand was the earth placed on its base, and by my right hand the heavens were stretched out; at my word they take up their places.

14 Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

Come together, all of you, and give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.

I, even I, have given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.

16 Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.

Come near to me, and give ear to this; from the start I did not keep it secret; from the time of its coming into existence I was there: and now the Lord God has sent me, and given me his spirit.

17 Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.

The Lord who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, I am the Lord your God, who is teaching you for your profit, guiding you by the way in which you are to go.

18 If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”

Your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.

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!”

Go out of Babylon, go in flight from the Chaldaeans; with the sound of song make it clear, give the news, let the word go out even to the end of the earth: say, The Lord has taken up the cause of his servant Jacob.

21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.

They had no need of water when he was guiding them through the waste lands: he made water come out of the rock for them: the rock was parted and the waters came flowing out.

22 “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

There is no peace, says the Lord, for the evil-doers.