Isaiah 48

¹Hear this, O house of Jacob! Ye that are called by the name of Israel; Ye that have come forth from the fountain of Judah; Ye that swear by the name of Jehovah, And praise the God of Israel, But not in truth and sincerity!

²For they call themselves of the holy city, And stay themselves on the God of Israel, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts:—

³What hath happened I declared to you long ago; From my mouth it proceeded, and I made it known; On a sudden I effected it, and it came to pass.

⁴Because I knew that thou art obstinate, And that thy neck is a bar of iron, And that thy brow is brass,

⁵I declared it to thee long ago; Before it came to pass, I made it known to thee; Lest thou shouldst say, My idol effected it, And my graven image, and my molten image ordained it.

⁶Thou hast heard it; now see it all! And will ye not confess it? From this time I make you hear a new thing, Even a hidden thing, which thou hast not known.

⁷It is produced now, and not long ago; Before this day thou hast not heard of it, Lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew it.

⁸Yea, thou heardest it not; yea, thou knewest it not; Yea, it was not disclosed to thee long ago; For I knew that thou wast wholly faithless, And wast called rebellious from thy birth.

⁹For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, And for the sake of my praise I will restrain it from thee, That I may not utterly cut thee off.

¹⁰Behold, I have melted thee, and found no silver; I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹For mine own sake will I do it; For how would my name be blasphemed? And my glory will I not give to another.

¹²Hearken to me, O Jacob, And Israel, whom I have called! I am He, I am the first, and I the last.

¹³Yea, my hand hath founded the earth, And my right hand hath spread out the heavens; I called them; they stood forth together.

¹⁴Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among you hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth will execute his pleasure upon Babylon, And his power upon the Chaldaeans.

¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and his way shall be prosperous.

¹⁶Draw near to me, and hear ye this! I spake not in secret from the beginning; And since it began to be, I have been there; And now hath the Lord Jehovah sent me with his spirit.

¹⁷Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am Jehovah, thy God, who teacheth thee what will profit thee; Who leadeth thee in the way thou shouldst go.

¹⁸O that thou wouldst hearken to my commandments! Then shall thy peace be as a river, And thy prosperity as the waves of the sea;

¹⁹Then shall thy posterity be as the sand, And the fruit of thy body as the offspring of the sea; Thy name shall not be cut off, nor destroyed before me.

²⁰Come ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the land of the Chaldaeans with the voice of joy! Publish ye this, and make it known; Let it resound to the ends of the earth! Say: "Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob;

²¹They thirst not in the deserts through which he leadeth them; Waters from the rock he causeth to flow for them; He cleaveth the rock, and the waters gush forth.

²²There is no peace, saith Jehovah, for the wicked."

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.