Isaiah 48:1-11

New King James Version

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

48 “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 ^(A)not in truth or in righteousness;
²For they call themselves ^(B)after the holy city,
And ^(C)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:

³“I have ^(D)declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, ^(E)and they came to pass.
⁴Because I knew that you were ^[a]obstinate,
And ^(F)your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
⁵Even 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.
⁷They 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.’
⁸Surely 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 ^(G)a transgressor from the womb.

⁹“For^(H) My name’s sake ^(I)I will ^[b]defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
¹⁰Behold, ^(J)I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the ^(K)furnace of affliction.
¹¹For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For ^(L)how should My name be profaned?
And ^(M)I will not give My glory to another.