Israel Refined for God's Glory
1
Hear this, O house of Jacob, 1who are called by the name of Israel, and 2who came from the waters of Judah, 3who 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, 4and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name.
3
"The former things 5I 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 that 6you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
5
7I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 8'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 forth 9I 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 that 10from before birth you were called a rebel.
9
11"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, 12but not as silver; 13I have trieda you in the furnace of affliction.
11
14For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my nameb be profaned? 15My glory I will not give to another.
The Lord's Call to Israel
12
"Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; 16I am the first, and I am the last.
13
My hand 17laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand 18spread out the heavens; 19when I call to them, they stand forth together.
14
"Assemble, all of you, and listen! 20Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; 21he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against 22the Chaldeans.
15
23I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16
24Draw 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 now 25the 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
26Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! 27Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
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28your 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
29Go out from Babylon, flee from 30Chaldea, declare this 31with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, 32"The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!"
21
33They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; 34he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22
35"There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)