Isaiah 48

¹“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the ^[a]loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
² “For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
³ “I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴ “Because I know that you are ^[b]obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
⁵ Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before ^[c]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
⁶ “You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
⁷ “They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
⁸ “You have not heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a ^[d]rebel from ^[e]birth.
⁹ “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
¹⁰ “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.

¹² “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel ^[f]whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
¹³ “Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
¹⁴ “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
¹⁵ “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
¹⁶ “Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord ^[g]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸ “If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your ^[h]well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ “Your ^[i]descendants would have been like the sand,
And ^[j]your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”