48 ¶ Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who call yourselves by the name of Israel, those that are come forth out of the waters of Judah, those who 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 the hosts is his name.
3 That which happened, I have already declared many days ago; and it went forth out of my mouth, and I published it; I did it suddenly, and it came to pass.
4 Because I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow bronze;
5 I have already declared it many days ago; before it came to pass I showed it to thee: lest thou should say, My idol has done it, my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded these things.
6 Thou hast heard it, thou hast seen it all; and will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
7 They are created now, and not in days past; nor before this day hast thou heard them lest thou should say, Behold, I knew them.
8 Certainly thou hast never heard this; certainly thou hast never known this; certainly thine ear was never before opened: for I knew that being unfaithful thou would disobey; therefore, I called thee a rebel from the womb.
9 ¶ For my name’s sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will wait patiently for thee that I not cut thee off.
10 Behold, I have refined thee, and not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, I will do it, for how should my name be profaned? 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 Certainly my hand founded the earth, and my right hand measured the heavens with the palm; as I named them, they appeared together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves and hear; who is there among them that declares these things? The LORD has loved him, the one who will execute his will on Babylon and his arm upon the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; I have called him: I have brought him, and therefore his way shall be prospered.
16 ¶ Come near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was done, I was there: and now the LORD God has sent me and his Spirit.
17 Thus has the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel said: I am the LORD thy God who teaches thee to profit, who causes thee to walk by the way in which thou dost walk.
18 O that thou would look unto my commandments! Then thy peace would be as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 Thy seed would be as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
20 Come out of Babylon, flee from among the Chaldeans. Give news of this with a voice of joy; publish this; take this news to the end of the earth; say, The LORD has redeemed his slave Jacob.
21 And they did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused water to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace for the wicked, said the LORD.