Called by My Name
48 1 Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and who came from the line of Judah; you who swear by the name of our Father and call on our Father — but not in truth or in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves people of the holy city and lean on our Father — the Father of heaven's armies is his name. 3 I declared the former things long ago; they went out from my mouth, and I made them known. Then suddenly I acted, and they came true. 4 Because I knew how stubborn you are — your neck sinew stiff as iron, your forehead hard as bronze — 5 I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you, so you could never say, 'My idol did them; my carved image and my cast figure commanded them.' 6 You have heard it; now look at all of it. Will you not admit it? From now on I will tell you new things, hidden things you never knew. 7 They are created now, not long ago; before today you had never heard of them, so you cannot say, 'I already knew them.' 8 You have never heard, never known; long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew how treacherously you would act — you have been called a rebel from birth. 9 For my own name's sake I hold back my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it toward you, so that I do not cut you off. 10 See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I act — for why should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
I Am First and Last
12 Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together. 14 Gather together, all of you, and listen: who among them has declared these things? The one I love will carry out my purpose against Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans. a a v14 "The one I love" refers to Cyrus, the Persian king God was raising up to conquer Babylon and free Israel. 15 I, I myself, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his way.
16 Come near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it came to be, I was there. And now the Sovereign Father has sent me — and his Spirit. b b v16 Many hear Jesus speaking in this line — the Servant our Father is about to unveil in the chapters that follow, sent with the Holy Spirit alongside him.
17 This is what our Father says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am your Father, who teaches you for your good, who leads you in the way you should go. 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands! Then your peace would have flowed like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 Your children would have been like the sand, and your own offspring like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from my presence.
20 Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a shout of joy declare it, proclaim it; send it out to the end of the earth. Say, 'Our Father has redeemed his servant Jacob!' 21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock. He split the rock, and the water gushed out.
22 "There is no peace," says our Father, "for the wicked."