Isaiah 48:16-22

New Living Translation

¹⁶ Come closer, and listen to this.
    From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.”

And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit
    have sent me with this message.
¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you what is good for you
    and leads you along the paths you should follow.
¹⁸ Oh, that you had listened to my commands!
    Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river
    and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—
    too many to count!
There would have been no need for your destruction,
    or for cutting off your family name.”

²⁰ Yet even now, be free from your captivity!
    Leave Babylon and the Babylonians.^[a]
Sing out this message!
    Shout it to the ends of the earth!
The Lord has redeemed his servants,
    the people of Israel.^[b]
21 They were not thirsty
    when he led them through the desert.
He divided the rock,
    and water gushed out for them to drink.
²² “But there is no peace for the wicked,”
    says the Lord.