1 Israel Refined for God’s Glory “Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; Who swear by the name of the Lord , And make mention of the God of Israel, But Is. 58:2; Jer. 4:2; 5:2 not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves Is. 52:1; 64:10 after the holy city, And Is. 10:20; Jer. 7:4; 21:2; Mic. 3:11; Rom. 2:17 lean on the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have Is. 44:7, 8; 46:10 declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, Josh. 21:45; Is. 42:9 and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, And Ex. 32:9; Deut. 31:27; Ezek. 2:4; 3:7 your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called Deut. 9:7, 24; Ps. 58:3; Is. 46:3, 8 a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For Ps. 79:9; 106:8; Is. 43:25; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44 My name’s sake (Neh. 9:30, 31); Ps. 78:38; Is. 30:18; 65:8 I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, Ps. 66:10; Jer. 9:7 I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the Deut. 4:20;1 Kin. 8:51; Jer. 11:4 furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For Lev. 22:2, 32; Deut. 32:26, 27; Ezek. 20:9 how should My name be profaned? And Is. 42:8 I will not give My glory to another.
12 God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, Deut. 32:39 I am the Is. 44:6; (Rev. 22:13) First, I am also the Last.
13 Indeed Ex. 20:11; Ps. 102:25; Is. 42:5; 45:12, 18; Heb. 1:10–12 My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When Is. 40:26 I call to them, They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? Is. 45:1 The Lord loves him; Is. 44:28; 47:1–15 He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; Yes, Is. 45:1, 2 I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this: Is. 45:19 I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now Is. 61:1; Zech. 2:8, 9, 11 the Lord God and His Spirit Have sent Me.”
17 Thus says Is. 43:14 the Lord , your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Ps. 32:8; Is. 49:9, 10 Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Deut. 28:1–14; Ps. 119:165; Is. 32:16–18; 66:12 Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Gen. 22:17; Is. 10:22; 44:3, 4; 54:3; Jer. 33:22; Hos. 1:10 Your descendants also would have been like the sand, And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; His name would not have been cut off Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Zech. 2:6, 7; Rev. 18:4 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare, proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth; Say, “The Lord has (Ex. 19:4–6) redeemed His servant Jacob!”
21 And they (Is. 41:17, 18) did not thirst When He led them through the deserts; He Ex. 17:6; Ps. 105:41 caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “ There (Is. 57:21) is no peace,” says the Lord , “for the wicked.”