1
Hear this, O house of Jacob,
dch. 43:1 who are called by the name of Israel,
andePs. 68:26 who came from the waters of Judah,
fJer. 7:9 who swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
g[Mic. 3:11] and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former thingshch. 41:26 I declared of old;
they went out from my mouth and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.
4 Because I know thati[Ex. 32:9] you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
5 h[See ver. 3 above] I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say,jSee Jer. 44:15-17 ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them. ’
6 You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forthkSee ch. 43:19 I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them. ’
8 You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and thatlch. 46:8 from before birth you were called a rebel.
9 m[Mal. 3:6] For my name's sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you,n[1 Pet. 1:7] but not as silver;
o[Deut. 4:20; Ezek. 22:18, 20, 22] I have tried1Or I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11 pch. 43:25; Ezek. 20:9 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
qch. 42:8 My glory I will not give to another.
12
Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he;rSee ch. 41:4 I am the first,
and I am the last.
13 My handsch. 51:13; [Ps. 102:25; Heb. 1:10] laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right handsch. 51:13; [Ps. 102:25; Heb. 1:10] spread out the heavens;
t[ch. 40:26] when I call to them,
they stand forth together.
14 Assemble, all of you, and listen!
u[ch. 41:26] who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
vch. 46:10, 11 he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be againstwch. 23:13; 47:1 the Chaldeans.
15 xSee ch. 45:1-3 I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 ych. 45:19 Draw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there. ”
And nowzch. 61:1 the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 aPs. 81:13; Luke 19:42; [Deut. 32:29] Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
bch. 66:12 Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19 cch. 10:22; Gen. 22:17; Hos. 1:10 your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me. ”
20 dch. 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Zech. 2:6, 7 Go out from Babylon, flee fromech. 23:13; 47:1 Chaldea,
declare thisf[ch. 35:10; 52:9] with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say,gch. 44:23; [Ex. 19:4-6] “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! ”
21 h[ch. 35:6; 44:3; Deut. 8:15] They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
ich. 43:19; Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11 he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22 jch. 57:21 “There is no peace, ” says the Lord, “for the wicked. ”