Isaiah 48
1Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, 1 Which are called by the name of Israel, 1 And are come forth out of the waters of Judah, 1 Which swear by the name of the Lord, 1 And make mention of the God of Israel, 1 But not in truth, nor in righteousness. 1
2For they call themselves of the holy city, 1 And stay themselves upon the God of Israel; 1 The Lord of hosts is his name. 1
3I have declared the former things from the beginning; 1 And they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; 1 I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 1
4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, 1 And thy neck is an iron sinew, 1 And thy brow brass: 1
5I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; 1 Before it came to pass I shewed it thee: 1 Lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, 1 And my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 1
6Thou hast heard, see all this; 1 And will not ye declare it? 1 I have shewed thee new things from this time, 1 Even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 1
7They are created now, and not from the beginning; 1 Even before the day when thou heardest them not; 1 Lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 1
8Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; 1 Yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: 1 For I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, 1 And wast called a transgressor from the womb. 1
9For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, 1 And for my praise will I refrain for thee, 1 That I cut thee not off. 1
10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; 1 I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 1
11For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: 1 For how should my name be polluted? 1 And I will not give my glory unto another. 1
12Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called; 1 I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 1
13Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, 1 And my right hand hath spanned the heavens: 1 When I call unto them, they stand up together. 1
14All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; 1 Which among them hath declared these things? 1 The Lord hath loved him: 1 He will do his pleasure on Babylon, 1 And his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 1
15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: 1 I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 1
16Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; 1 I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; 1 From the time that it was, there am I: 1 And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 1
17Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; 1 I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, 1 Which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 1
18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! 1 Then had thy peace been as a river, 1 And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 1
19Thy seed also had been as the sand, 1 And the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; 1 His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 1
20Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, 1 With a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, 1 Utter it even to the end of the earth; 1 Say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 1
21And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: 1 He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: 1 He clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 1
22There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.