| Isaiah
(Yeshayahu) 48
"Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I
have called: I am he; I am the first and I am
the last.
My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them, they all stand up together.
"Come
together, all of you, and listen: Which of the
idols has foretold these things? The LORD's
chosen ally will carry out his purpose against
Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians.
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him.
I will bring him, and he will succeed in his
mission.
"Come
near me and listen to this:
"From
the first announcement I have not spoken in
secret; at the time it happens, I am there."
And
now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his
Spirit.
This
is what the LORD says- your Redeemer, the Holy
One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is best for you, who directs
you in the way you should go. If only you had
paid attention to my commands, your peace would
have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been like the sand,
your children like its numberless grains; their
name would never be cut off nor destroyed from
before me."
Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce
this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send
it out to the ends of the earth; say, "The
LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob."
They did not thirst when he led them through
the deserts; he made water flow for them from
the rock; he split the rock and water gushed
out.
"There
is no peace," says the LORD, "for
the wicked."
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