Isaiah 48

1 Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by Israel’s name, who came from Judah, and who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel and mention it—but not in truth or righteousness.

2 You also claim the name of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel; his name is the Lord of armies.

3 I already announced the former things. They came from my mouth and became well known. I acted suddenly, and the events happened.

4 I know you are stubborn. Your neck is an iron tendon, and your forehead is bronze.

5 Long ago I told you what would happen before it came, so you could not say, ‘My idols did this for me,’ or ‘My carved and cast images commanded it.’

6 You heard all this but did not understand. Yet from now on I have made new things known to you, things that are about to happen, which you did not mention.

7 They are happening now, not formerly. You did not hear about them in earlier days, so do not say, ‘Yes, I knew them.’

8 You neither knew nor understood, and I did not open your ears from the beginning. I knew you would act treacherously and would be called lawless from the womb.

9 For my name’s sake I will show you my wrath and set my glorious acts before you, so I do not destroy you completely.

10 Look, I sold you, but not for silver. I rescued you from the furnace of poverty.

11 For my own sake I will do this for you, because my name is treated as common. I will not give my glory to another.

12 Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel whom I call. I am the first, and I endure forever.

13 My hand founded the earth, and my right hand fixed the sky. I will call them, and they will stand together.

14 Everyone will gather and listen. Who told them these things? Because I loved you, I fulfilled your desire against Babylon, to abolish the Chaldeans’ offspring.

15 I spoke, called, and brought him, and I made his way prosper.

16 Come near and listen to these words. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, nor in a dark place of the earth. When it happened, I was there. Now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.

17 This is what the Lord, who rescued you, the Holy One of Israel, says: I am your God. I showed you how to find the path you should walk.

18 If you had listened to my commands, your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like a wave of the sea.

19 Your offspring would have been like sand, and the children of your body like dust from the ground. Even now you will not be completely destroyed, and your name will not perish before me.

20 Leave Babylon; flee from the Chaldeans. Shout with a joyful voice, make this known, and announce it to the end of the earth. Say, ‘The Lord rescued his servant Jacob.’

21 If they thirst, he will lead them through the desert and produce water for them from the rock. The rock will split, water will flow, and my people will drink.

22 There is no joy for the ungodly, says the Lord.