Isaiah 48

1 Hear this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel, and have come from the sperm of Judah; you who swear by the name of Yahweh and invoke the God of Israel, but not sincerely nor in a righteous manner.

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

2 For they call themselves people of the holy city and trust in the God of Israel. Yahweh of hosts is his name.

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 have declared the things from long ago; they came out from my mouth, and I made them known; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, your neck muscles tight as iron, and your forehead like bronze,

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

5 therefore I declared these things to you beforehand; before they happened I informed you, so you could not say, 'My idol has done them,' or 'My carved figure and my cast metal figure has ordained these things.'

I have even from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it you: lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.

6 You heard about these things; look at all this evidence; and you, will you not admit what I said is true? From now on, I am showing you new things, hidden things that you have not known.

You have heard, see all this; and will not you declare it? I have showed you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.

7 Now, and not from previously, they come into being, and before today you have not heard about them, so you will not be able to say, 'Yes, I knew about them.'

They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them.

8 You never heard; you did not know; these things were not unfolded to your ears beforehand. For I knew that you have been very deceitful, and that you have been a rebel from birth.

Yes, you heard not; yes, you knew not; yes, from that time that your ear was not opened: for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.

9 For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, and for my honor I will hold back from destroying you.

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

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

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

11 For my own sake, for my own sake I will act; for how can I allow my name to be profaned? I will not give my glory to anyone else.

For my own sake, even for my own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory to another.

12 Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am he; I am the first, I also 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 Yes, my hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together.

My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

14 Assemble yourselves, all of you, and listen! Who among you has announced these things? Yahweh's ally will accomplish his purpose against Babylon. He will carry out Yahweh's will against the Chaldeans.

All you, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them has declared these things? The LORD has loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15 I, I have spoken, yes, I have summoned him, I have brought him, and he will succeed.

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

16 Come near to me, listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there.” Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, and his Spirit.

Come you near to me, hear you this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, has sent me.

17 This is what Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says, “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you by the way that you should go.

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

18 If only you had obeyed my commandments! Then your peace and prosperity would have flowed like a river, and your salvation like the waves of the sea.

O that you had listened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as the sand, and the children from your womb as numerous as the grains of sand; their name would not have been cut off nor blotted out from before me.

Your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Come out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With the sound of a ringing cry announce it! Make this known, make it go out to the ends of the earth! Say, 'Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.'

Go you forth of Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say you, The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.

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

And they thirsted not 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 There is no peace for the wicked—says Yahweh.”

There is no peace, says the LORD, to the wicked.