48“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,H8085H1004H3290H7121H8034H3478H3318H4325H3063H7650H8034H3068H2142H430H3478H571H66662even though you call yourself the holy city and talk about depending on the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7121H6944H5892H5564H430H3478H3068H6635H80343Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.H5046H7223H227H3318H6310H8085H6213H6597H9354For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your heads are as hard as bronze.H1847H7186H6203H1270H1517H4696H51545That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’H227H5046H935H8085H559H6090H6213H6459H5262H66806You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled, but you refuse to admit it. Now I will tell you new things, secrets you have not yet heard.H8085H2372H5046H8085H2319H6258H5341H30457They are brand new, not things from the past. So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’H1254H6440H3117H8085H559H30458“Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new, things you never heard of before. For I know so well what traitors you are. You have been rebels from birth.H8085H3045H241H6605H3045H898H898H7121H6586H9909Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.H8034H748H639H8416H2413H377210I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.H6884H3701H977H3564H604011I will rescue you for my sake—yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols!H6213H2490H5414H3519H312
Freedom from Babylon
12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last.H8085H3290H3478H7121H7223H31413It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”H3027H3245H776H3225H2946H8064H7121H5975H316214Have any of your idols ever told you this? Come, all of you, and listen. The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally. He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon and to destroy the Babylonian armies.H6908H8085H5046H3068H157H6213H2656H894H2220H377815“I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.H1696H7121H935H1870H674316Come 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.H7126H7126H8085H1696H5643H7218H6256H136H3069H7307H797117This 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.H559H3068H1350H6918H3478H3068H430H3925H3276H1869H1870H321218Oh, 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.H3863H7181H4687H7965H5104H6666H1530H322019Your 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.”H2233H2344H6631H4578H4579H8034H3772H8045H644020Yet even now, be free from your captivity! Leave Babylon and the Babylonians. Sing out this message! Shout it to the ends of the earth! The Lord has redeemed his servants, the people of Israel.H3318H894H1272H3778H6963H7440H5046H8085H3318H7097H776H559H3068H1350H5650H329021They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink.H6770H3212H2723H4325H5140H6697H1234H6697H4325H210022“But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.H7965H559H3068H7563
Ashburn, VA
armies.H6908
