Isaiah 48

¹Give 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.

²For 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.

³I 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.

⁴Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;

⁵For 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.

⁶All 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.

⁷They 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.

⁸Truly 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.

⁹Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.

¹⁰See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.

¹¹For 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.

¹²Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; I am he, I am the first and I am the last.

¹³Yes, 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.

¹⁴Come 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.

¹⁵I, even I, have given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.

¹⁶Come 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.

¹⁷The 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.

¹⁸If 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:

¹⁹Your 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.

²⁰Go 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.

²¹They 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.

²²There is no peace, says the Lord, for the evil-doers.

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 the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

⁴Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

⁵I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; 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, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

⁷They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

⁸Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest 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 with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

¹²Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

¹³Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

¹⁴All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the 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; 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, hath sent me.

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.

¹⁸O 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 gravel thereof; his name should not have been 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.