Isaiah 48

¹Hear ye 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. ²For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name. ³I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. ⁴Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; ⁵therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. ⁶Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known. ⁷They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. ⁸Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. ⁹For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. ¹⁰Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my namebe profaned? and my glory will I not give to another. ¹²Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. ¹³Yea, mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. ¹⁴Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be onthe Chaldeans. ¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. ¹⁶Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD hath sent me, and his spirit. ¹⁷Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. ¹⁸Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: ¹⁹thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name should not be cut off nor destroyed from before me. ²⁰Go 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. ²¹And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. ²²There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.