Isaiah 48

God’s Stubborn People

48“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,H8085H1004H3290H7121H8034H3478H3318H4325H3063H7650H8034H3068H2142H430H3478H571H6666 2even though you call yourself the holy city and talk about depending on the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7121H6944H5892H5564H430H3478H3068H6635H8034 3Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.H5046H7223H227H3318H6310H8085H6213H6597H935 4For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your heads are as hard as bronze.H1847H7186H6203H1270H1517H4696H5154 5That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’H227H5046H935H8085H559H6090H6213H6459H5262H6680 6You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled, but you refuse to admit it. Now I will tell you new things, secrets you have not yet heard.H8085H2372H5046H8085H2319H6258H5341H3045 7They are brand new, not things from the past. So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’H1254H6440H3117H8085H559H3045 8“Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new, things you never heard of before. For I know so well what traitors you are. You have been rebels from birth.H8085H3045H241H6605H3045H898H898H7121H6586H990 9Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.H8034H748H639H8416H2413H3772 10I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.H6884H3701H977H3564H6040 11I will rescue you for my sake—yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols!H6213H2490H5414H3519H312

Freedom from Babylon

12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last.H8085H3290H3478H7121H7223H314 13It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”H3027H3245H776H3225H2946H8064H7121H5975H3162 14Have any of your idols ever told you this? Come, all of you, and listen. The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally. He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon and to destroy the Babylonian

armies.H6908H8085H5046H3068H157H6213H2656H894H2220H3778 15“I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.H1696H7121H935H1870H6743 16Come closer, and listen to this. From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.” And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message.H7126H7126H8085H1696H5643H7218H6256H136H3069H7307H7971 17This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.H559H3068H1350H6918H3478H3068H430H3925H3276H1869H1870H3212 18Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.H3863H7181H4687H7965H5104H6666H1530H3220 19Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name.”H2233H2344H6631H4578H4579H8034H3772H8045H6440 20Yet even now, be free from your captivity! Leave Babylon and the Babylonians

. Sing out this message! Shout it to the ends of the earth! The Lord has redeemed his servants, the people of Israel.H3318H894H1272H3778H6963H7440H5046H8085H3318H7097H776H559H3068H1350H5650H3290 21They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink.H6770H3212H2723H4325H5140H6697H1234H6697H4325H2100 22“But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.H7965H559H3068H7563