Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, November 21st, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Lexham English Bible

Isaiah 48

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Yahweh Refines Stubborn Israel

1 Hear this, house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
    and came out from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of Yahweh,
    and invoke[a] the God of Israel,
but not in truth
    and not in righteousness.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,[b]
    and they lean on the God of Israel—
        Yahweh of hosts is his name.
3 "I declared the former things from of old,[c]
    and they went out from my mouth.
And I announced[d] them suddenly;
    I acted,[e] and they came to pass,
4 because I know[f] that you are obstinate,
    and your neck an iron sinew,
    and your forehead bronze.
5 And I declared them to you from of old;
    I announced[g] them to you before they came to pass
so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,
    and my image and my cast image commanded them.'
6 You have heard; see it all.
    And will you not declare it?
I announce[h] new things to you from this time
    and hidden things that[i] you have not known.
7 Now they are created, and not from of old,[j]
    and before today, and you have not heard them
        so that you could not say, "Look! I knew them."
8 Neither have you heard, nor have you known,
    nor from of old[k] has your ear been opened.
For I knew you would deal treacherously, very treacherously,
    and you are called a rebel from the womb.
9 For the sake of my name I refrain from[l] my anger,
    and for my praise I restrain it for you
        so as not to cut you off.
10 Look! I have refined you, but[m] not like[n] silver;
    I have chosen you in the furnace of misery.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake I do it;
    for why should it[o] be defiled?
        And I will not give my glory to another."

Yahweh Frees Israel

12 "Listen to me, Jacob,
    and Israel, whom I called:[p]
I am he. I am the first;
    also I am the last.
13 Indeed, my hand founded the earth,
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;
        when I summon[q] them, they stand in position together.
14 Assemble, all of you, and hear!
    Who among them declared these things?
Yahweh loves him;
    he shall perform[r] his wish against Babylon
    and his arm against the Chaldeans.[s]
15 I, I myself, I have spoken!
    Indeed, I have called him.
I have brought him,
    and he will be successful in his way.
16 Draw near to me; hear this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the beginning;[t]
    from the time it came to be,[u] there I have been;
        And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit."

17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel:

"I am Yahweh your God, who teaches[v] you to profit,
    leads you in the way you should go.

18 O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!

Then[w] your prosperity would have been like a river,
    and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 And your offspring would have been like the sand,
    and the descendants of your body[x] like its grains.[y]
It would not be cut off,
    and its name would not be destroyed from my presence."
20 Go out from Babylon!
    Flee from Chaldea!
Proclaim[z] it with a shout[aa] of rejoicing; proclaim[ab] this!
    Send it forth[ac] to the end of the earth;
        say, "Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!"
21 And when he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty;
    he made water flow from the rock for them,
and he split the rock,
    and the water gushed out.

22 "There is no peace," says Yahweh, "for the wicked."

 
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