Isaiah

¹ “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

² and rely on the God of Israel— the Lord Almighty is his name:

³ my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

⁴ the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze.

⁵ before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’

⁶ Will you not admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.

⁷ you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’

⁸ from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.

⁹ for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off.

¹⁰ I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹ How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

¹² “Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.

¹³ and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together.

¹⁴ Which of the idols has foretold these things? The Lord’s chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians.

¹⁵ yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission.

¹⁶ “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.” And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, with his Spirit.

¹⁷ your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

¹⁸ your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹ your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰ flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”

²¹ he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.

²² “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”