Israel Must Leave Babylon
1“Listen to this, house of Jacob —
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
2For they are named after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;
his name is the Lord of Armies.
3I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of my mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron
and your forehead bronze,
5therefore 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.’
6You 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.
7They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’
8You have never heard; you have never known;
for a long time your ears have not been open.
For I knew that you were very treacherous,
and were known as a rebel from birth.
9I will delay my anger for the sake of my name,
and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
10Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own,
for how can I be defiled?
I will not give my glory to another.
12“Listen to me, Jacob,
and Israel, the one called by me:
I am he; I am the first,
I am also the last.
13My own hand founded the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
14All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
he will accomplish his will against Babylon,
and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15I — I have spoken;
yes, I have called him;
I have brought him,
and he will succeed in his mission.
16Approach me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time anything existed, I was there.”
And now the Lord God
has sent me and his Spirit.
17This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from my presence.
20Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21They did not thirst
when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow from the rock for them;
he split the rock, and water gushed out.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.