Isaiah 48
1Hear this, house of Jacob, 1 who are called by the name Israel, and have come from the sperm of Judah; 1 you who swear by the name of Yahweh and invoke the God of Israel, 1 but not sincerely nor in a righteous manner. 1
2For they call themselves people of the holy city 1 and trust in the God of Israel. Yahweh of hosts is his name. 1
3“I have declared the things from long ago; they came out from my mouth, and I made them known; 1 then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 1
4Because I knew that you were obstinate, 1 your neck muscles tight as iron, and your forehead like bronze, 1
5therefore I declared these things to you beforehand; before they happened I informed you, 1 so you could not say, 'My idol has done them,' or 'My carved figure and my cast metal figure has ordained these things.' 1
6You 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. 1
7Now, and not from previously, they come into being, and before today you have not heard about them, 1 so you will not be able to say, 'Yes, I knew about them.' 1
8You never heard; you did not know; these things were not unfolded to your ears beforehand. 1 For I knew that you have been very deceitful, and that you have been a rebel from birth. 1
9For the sake of my name I will defer my anger, and for my honor I will hold back from destroying you. 1
10Look, I refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction. 1
11For my own sake, for my own sake I will act; for how can I allow my name to be profaned? 1 I will not give my glory to anyone else. 1
12Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: 1 I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 1
13Yes, my hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; 1 when I call to them, they stand up together. 1
14Assemble yourselves, all of you, and listen! Who among you has announced these things? 1 Yahweh's ally will accomplish his purpose against Babylon. He will carry out Yahweh's will against the Chaldeans. 1
15I, I have spoken, yes, I have summoned him, I have brought him, and he will succeed. 1
16Come near to me, listen to this: 1 From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there.” 1 Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, and his Spirit. 1
17This is what Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says, 1 “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you how to succeed, 1 who leads you by the way that you should go. 1
18If only you had obeyed my commandments! 1 Then your peace and prosperity would have flowed like a river, and your salvation like the waves of the sea. 1
19Your descendants would have been as numerous as the sand, and the children from your womb as numerous as the grains of sand; 1 their name would not have been cut off nor blotted out from before me. 1
20Come out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! 1 With the sound of a ringing cry announce it! Make this known, make it go out to the ends of the earth! 1 Say, 'Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.' 1
21They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; 1 he made the water to flow out of the rock for them; 1 he split open the rock, and the waters gushed out. 1
22There is no peace for the wicked—says Yahweh.”