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"Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; Who swear by the name of the Lord, And make mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness;
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For they call themselves after the holy city, And lean on the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is His name:
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"I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
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Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,
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Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.'
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"You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
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They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, 'Of course I knew them.'
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Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.
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"For My name's sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.
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Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
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For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.
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"Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
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Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, They stand up together.
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"All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
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I, even I, have spoken; Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
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"Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit Have sent Me."
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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 by the way you should go.
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Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.