Isaiah 48 — FBV
48Verse 1Listen to this, descendants of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and who come from the lineage+of Judah. Listen, you people who swear by the name of the Lord, or who invoke the God of Israel, but not truly or sincerely.Verse 2You say you're from the “Holy City,” and claim you're trusting in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord Almighty.Verse 3I predicted long ago what was going to happen—I said it and let people know. Then suddenly I decided to act, and it all came true.Verse 4I know how stubborn you are, with necks as unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.Verse 5I predicted these things to you long ago, before they happened. I explained them to you so that you couldn't say “My idol did this,” or “My image and my metal god ordered this to happen.”Verse 6You've heard all I predicted, and seen it happen. Won't you admit it? Now I'm going to tell you new things, secrets you don't know anything about.Verse 7These are brand-new, not something from the past. Before today you won't have heard anything about them, so you can't say, “Oh yes, I know about that.”Verse 8No, you've never heard that, and you've never known that! Nobody's told you about that before! I know how deviously you operate—you're called “rebels from birth”!Verse 9But because of my nature+I am delaying my punishment; and because of my reputation, I'm not going to destroy you.Verse 10Look how I've refined you, but not like silver—I chose you in the furnace of trouble.Verse 11The reason I'm doing this is because of who I am, yes, because of my very nature. I won't let my reputation be damaged—I won't let anyone else have it.Verse 12Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, the one I called. Only I am God. I am the first, and I am the last.Verse 13I laid the foundations of the earth with my own hands; I personally spread out the heavens. When I call the stars, they all take their positions.Verse 14Everyone gather round and listen. Which of your “gods”+told you anything like this? The one the Lord loves will carry out the Lord's wishes against Babylon—he will attack the Babylonians.Verse 15I myself have spoken. I have called him to do this, and he will be successful in what he does.Verse 16Come close to me, and listen to this. From the very beginning I haven't spoken in secret; I am always there right when it happens. Now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me to tell you this:Verse 17This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God. I am the one who teaches you what is good for you, who leads you along the way you should go.Verse 18If you had only listened carefully to what I told you! Then your blessings would have flowed like a river, and goodness would have washed over you like the waves of the sea.Verse 19Your children, your descendants, would have been like all those grains of sand. They wouldn't have had to be destroyed, wiped out before me.Verse 20Leave Babylon! Run away from Babylonia with happy shouts! Let everyone know, telling the whole earth, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”Verse 21They weren't thirsty when he led them through the desert—he made water come out of the rock for them. He split the rock open and water poured out.Verse 22The wicked have no peace, says the Lord.