Isaiah 48

1 Listen to this, descendants of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and who come from the lineage of Judah. Listen, you people who swear by the name of the Lord, or who invoke the God of Israel, but not truly or sincerely.

"Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness

2 You say you're from the “Holy City,” and claim you're trusting in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name):

3 I predicted long ago what was going to happen—I said it and let people know. Then suddenly I decided to act, and it all came true.

I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they happened.

4 I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.

Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;

5 I predicted these things to you long ago, before they happened. I explained them to you so that you couldn't say “My idol did this,” or “My image and my metal god ordered this to happen.”

therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.'

6 You've heard all I predicted, and seen it happen. Won't you admit it? Now I'm going to tell you new things, secrets you don't know anything about.

You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

7 These are brand-new, not something from the past. Before today you won't have heard anything about them, so you can't say, “Oh yes, I know about that.”

They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you did not hear them; lest you should say, 'Look, I knew them.'

8 No, you've never heard that, and you've never known that! Nobody's told you about that before! I know how deviously you operate—you're called “rebels from birth”!

Yes, you did not hear; yes, you did not know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.

9 But because of my nature I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.

For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.

10 Look how I've refined you, but not like silver—I chose you in the furnace of trouble.

Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

11 The reason I'm doing this is because of who I am, yes, because of my very nature. I won't let my reputation be damaged—I won't let anyone else have it.

For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.

12 Listen to me, Jacon, and Israel, the one I called. Only I am God. I am the first, and I am the last.

"Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 I laid the foundations of the earth with my own hands; I personally spread out the heavens. When I call the stars, they all take their positions.

Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

14 Everyone gather round and listen. Which of your “gods” told you anything like this? The one the Lord loves will carry out the Lord's wishes against Babylon—he will attack the Babylonians.

"Let all of them assemble and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom the LORD loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15 I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.

I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16 Come close to me, and listen to this. From the very beginning I haven't spoken in secret; I am always there right when it happens. Now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me to tell you this:

"Come near to me and hear this: "From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I." Now the LORD has sent me, with his Ruach.

17 This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God. I am the one who teaches you what is good for you, who leads you along the way you should go.

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.

18 If you had only listened carefully to what I told you! Then your blessings would have flowed like a river, and goodness would have washed over you like the waves of the sea.

But would that you had listened to my commandments. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 Your children, your descendants, would have been like all those grains of sand. They wouldn't have had to be destroyed, wiped out before me.

Your descendants would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains; his name not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Leave Babylon! Run away from Babylonia with happy shouts! Let everyone know, telling the whole earth, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare, tell this, send it out throughout the earth. Say, 'The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.'

21 They weren't thirsty when he led them through the desert—he made water come out of the rock for them. He split the rock open and water poured out.

They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22 The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.

"There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."