Israel Must Leave Babylon

48 “Listen to this, house of Jacob—
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from[a] Judah,(A)
who swear by the name of the Lord(B)
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
For they are named after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;(C)
his name is the Lord of Armies.
I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of my mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron[b]
and your forehead bronze,(D)
therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’(E)
You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 48:1 Lit have come from the waters of
  2. 48:4 Lit is an iron sinew

New things from now on

48 Listen to this, house of Jacob,
    who are known by the name of Israel,
        descendants of Judah,[a]
    who swear by the Lord’s name
        and invoke Israel’s God dishonestly and unrighteously.

    They are known as residents of the holy city,
        those who depend upon the God of Israel—
        the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
Past things I announced long ago;
    from my mouth I proclaimed them.
    I acted suddenly, and they came about.
Because I know that you are stubborn,
    your neck is made of iron,
    and your forehead is bronze.
I informed you long ago;
    before they came about I proclaimed them to you
    so you wouldn’t say, “My idol did them;
    my wood statue and metal god commanded them.”
You’ve heard and seen all this—
    won’t you admit it?
From now on I’ll tell you new things,
    guarded secrets that you don’t know.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:1 Or came out from the waters of Judah