The Lord Corrects His People
1 People of Israel,
you come from Jacob's family
and the tribe of Judah.
You claim to worship me,
the Lord God of Israel,
but you are lying.
2 You call Jerusalem your home
and say you depend on me,
the Lord All-Powerful,
the God of Israel.
3 Long ago I announced
what was going to be,
then without warning,
I made it happen.
4 I knew you were stubborn
and hardheaded.
5 And I told you these things,
so that when they happened
you would not say,
“The idols we worship did this.”
6 You heard what I said,
and you have seen it happen.
Now admit it's true!
I will show you secrets
you have never known.
7 Today I am doing something new,
something you cannot say
you have heard before.
8 You have never been willing
to listen to what I say;
from the moment of your birth,
I knew you would rebel.
The Lord Warns Israel
9 I, the Lord, am true to myself;
I will be praised for not punishing
and destroying you.
10 I tested you in hard times
just as silver is refined
in a heated furnace.
11 I did this because of who I am.
I refuse to be dishonored
or share my praise
with any other god.
12 Israel, my chosen people,
listen to me.
I alone am the Lord,
the first and the last.
13 With my own hand
I created the earth
and stretched out the sky.
They obey my every command.
The Lord Speaks to the Nations
14 Gather around me, all of you!
Listen to what I say.
Did any of your idols
predict this would happen?
Did they say that my friend
would do what I want done
to Babylonia?
15 I was the one who chose him.
I have brought him this far,
and he will be successful.
16 Come closer and listen!
I have never kept secret
the things I have said,
and I was here
before time began.
It Is Best To Obey the Lord
By the power of his Spirit
the Lord God has sent me
17 with this message:
People of Israel,
I am the holy Lord God,
the one who rescues you.
For your own good,
I teach you, and I lead you
along the right path.
18 How I wish that you
had obeyed my commands!
Your success and good fortune
would then have overflowed
like a flooding river.
19 Your nation would be blessed
with more people
than there are grains of sand
along the seashore.
And I would never have let
your country be destroyed.
20 Now leave Babylon!
Celebrate as you go.
Be happy and shout
for everyone to hear,
“The Lord has rescued
his servant Israel!
21 He led us through the desert
and made water flow from a rock
to satisfy our thirst.
22 But the Lord has promised
that none who are evil
will live in peace.”
1 Hear yee this, O house of Iaakob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come out of the waters of Iudah: which sweare by the Name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousnesse. 2 For they are called of the holy citie, and staie themselues vpon the God of Israel, whose Name is the Lord of hostes. 3 I haue declared ye former things of old, and they went out of my mouth, and I shewed them: I did them suddenly, and they came to passe. 4 Because I knewe, that thou art obstinate, and thy necke is an yron sinew, and thy brow brasse, 5 Therefore I haue declared it to thee of old: before it came to passe, I shewed it thee, lest thou shouldest say, Mine idole hath done them, and my carued image, and my molten image hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, behold all this, and wil not yee declare it? I haue shewed thee newe things, euen now, and hid things, which thou knewest not. 7 They are created now, and not of olde, and euen before this thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldest say, Beholde, I knewe them. 8 Yet thou heardest them not, neither diddest know them, neither yet was thine eare opened of olde: for I knewe that thou wouldest grieuously transgresse: therefore haue I called thee a transgressour from the wombe. 9 For my Names sake will I defer my wrath, and for my praise will I refraine it from thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I haue fined thee, but not as siluer: I haue chosen thee in the fornace of affliction. 11 For mine owne sake, for mine owne sake wil I doe it: for how should my Name be polluted? surely I wil not giue my glory vnto another. 12 Heare me, O Iaakob and Israel, my called, I am, I am the first, and I am the last. 13 Surely mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heaues: when I cal them, they stand vp together. 14 All you, assemble your selues, and heare: which among them hath declared these thinges? The Lord hath loued him: he wil doe his will in Babel, and his arme shalbe against the Chaldeans. 15 I, euen I haue spoken it, and I haue called him: I haue brought him, and his way shall prosper. 16 Come neere vnto me: heare ye this: I haue not spoken it in secret from the beginning: from the time that the thing was, I was there, 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 teach thee to profite, and lead thee by the way, that thou shouldest goe. 18 Oh that thou haddest hearkened to my commandements! then had thy prosperitie bene as the floude, and thy righteousnesse as the waues of the sea. 19 Thy seede also had beene as the sande, and the fruite of thy body like the grauell thereof: his name should not haue bene cut off nor destroied before me. 20 Goe yee out of Babel: flee yee from the Chaldeans, with a voice of ioy: tel and declare this: shewe it foorth to the ende of the earth: say yee, The Lord hath redeemed his seruant Iaakob. 21 And they were not thirstie: hee led them through the wildernesse: hee caused the waters to flowe out of the rocke for them: for he claue the rocke, and the water gushed out. 22 There is no peace, sayeth the Lord, vnto the wicked.