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