Isaiah 48:1-11

Stubborn Israel 1“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

2you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name:

3I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

4For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze.

5Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’

6You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.

7They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’

8You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.

9For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely.

10See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

11For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.