Isaiah:48-49

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Hear ye this , O house of Jacob , who are called by the name of Israel , and are come forth out of the spring of Judah , who swear by the name of the Lord , and make mention of the God of Israel ,––not in truth , nor in righteousness . * For of the holy city they call themselves , and upon the God of Israel they stay themselves ,––The Lord of hosts is his name . * The former things have I declared from the beginning ; and out of my mouth went they forth , and I announced them : suddenly did I accomplish them , and they came to pass ; * Because I knew that thou art obstinate , that like an iron sinew is thy neck , and thy brow of copper ; * And I declared it to thee from the beginning ; before yet it came to pass did I let thee hear it : lest thou should say , My idol hath done these things , and my graven image , and my molten image , have ordained them . * Thou hast heard it ; see it all now ; and you ––will you not declare it ? I caused thee to hear new things , from this time , even hidden things which thou hadst not known . * Now are they created , and not from the beginning ; and before the day thou heardest them not ; lest thou shouldest say , Behold , I knew them . * But neither hadst thou heard it ; nor didst thou know ; nor had in ancient times thy ear been opened ; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously , and a transgressor wast thou called from thy birth . * For the sake of my name will I defer my anger , and because of my praise will I restrain it toward thee , so that I may not cut thee off . * Behold , I have refined thee , though not into silver : I have approved thee in the crucible of affliction . * For my own sake will I do it : for how would be dishonored ? and my glory will I not give unto another . * Hearken unto me , O Jacob , and Israel , my called one ; I am he ; I am the first , I also am the last . * My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth , and my right hand hath spanned out the heavens : I call unto them , they stand forward together . * Assemble yourselves , all of you , and hear : Who among them hath told these things ? He whom the Lord loveth , will do his pleasure on Babylon , and his arm the Chaldeans . * I , even I , have spoken it , I have also called him : I have brought him , and he shall be prosperous on his way . * Come ye near unto me , hear ye this ; never from the beginning have I spoken in secret ; from the time that it occurred , was I there . And now the Lord Eternal hath sent me , and his Spirit . * Thus hath said the Lord , thy Redeemer , the Holy One of Israel , I am the Lord thy God who teach thee for thy profit , who lead thee by the way thou shouldst go . * Oh that thou hadst but listened to my commandments ! then would have been as a river thy peace , and thy prosperity as the waves of the sea : * And then would have been as the sand thy seed , and the offspring of thy body like the pebbles of the sea –shore ; yet shall his name not be cut off nor destroyed from before me . * Go forth out of Babylon , flee away from the Chaldeans , with the voice of singing declare , announce this , carry it forth as far as the end of the earth ; say , The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob . * And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts ; waters out of the rock he let drop down for them : and he cleaved the rock , and the waters gushed out . * There is no peace , saith the Lord , unto the wicked . * Hearken , O isles , unto me ; and listen , ye people , from afar : The Lord hath called me from my birth ; from my mother ’s womb hath he made mention of my name . * And he hath rendered my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hidden me : and he hath rendered me as a polished arrow ; in his quiver hath he concealed me ; * And said unto me , My servant art thou , O Israel , thou on whom I will be glorified . * But I had indeed said , For no purpose have I labored , for naught and vanity have I spent my strength ; yet surely my cause is with the Lord , and the recompense of my work with my God . * And now hath said the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant , to bring Jacob again to him , that Israel may be gathered unto him , that I should be honored in the eyes of the Lord , while my God was my strength ,–– * And he said , It is too light a thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob , and to bring back the preserved of Israel ! but I will appoint thee for a light to the nations , that my salvation may reach as far as the end of the earth . * Thus hath said the Lord , the Redeemer of Israel , his Holy One , to him who is despised by men , to him who is abhorred by nations , to the servant of rulers , Kings shall see it and rise up , princes , and they shall prostrate themselves , for the sake of the Lord , who is faithful , the Holy One of Israel , who hath made choice of thee . * Thus hath said the Lord , In the time of favor have I answered thee , and on the day of salvation have I helped thee ; and I will preserve thee , and I will appoint thee as a people of my covenant to raise up the land , to divide out desolate heritages ; * When I say to the prisoners , Go forth ; to those that are in darkness , Show yourselves . On the roads shall they feed , and on all mountain –peaks shall be their pasture . * They shall not be hungry nor thirsty , and neither heat nor sun shall smite them ; for he that hath mercy on them will lead them , and by springs of water will he guide them . * And I will change all my mountains into a road , and my highways shall be lifted up . * Behold , these shall come from afar ; and , lo , these from the north and from the west ; and these from the land of Sinim . * Sing , O heavens ; and be joyful , O earth ; and break forth , O mountains , into song ; for the Lord hath comforted his people , and upon his oppressed will he have mercy . * Yet Zion said , the Eternal hath forsaken me , and the Lord hath forgotten me . * Can a woman forget her sucking child , not to have mercy on the son of her body ? yea , should these even forget , yet would I not forget thee . * Behold , upon the palms of my hands have I engraved thee ; thy walls are continually before me . * Thy children come in haste ; thy destroyers and they that laid thee waste shall go away from thee . * Lift up thy eyes round about , and see ; they all are assembled together , they come to thee : as I live , saith the Lord , thou shalt surely clothe thyself with them all , as with an ornament , and bind them on thee , as a bride . * For thy ruins and thy desolate places , and thy wasted land ,––yea , now shall it be too narrow for thee by reason of the inhabitants , and thy destroyers shall be far away . * Yet again will say before thy ears the children of whom thou wast deprived , The place is too narrow for me ; make room for me that I may dwell . * And thou wilt say in thy heart , Who hath born me these , seeing I was bereft of my children , and was solitary , an exile , and outcast ? and who hath brought up these ? Behold , I was left entirely alone ; these , where have they been ? * Thus hath said the Lord Eternal , Behold , I will lift up to the nations my hand , and to the people will I raise up high my standard ; and they shall bring thy sons in arms , and thy daughters shall be carried upon shoulders . * And kings shall be thy nursing –fathers , and their princesses thy nursing –mothers ; with the face toward the earth shall they bow down to thee , and the dust of thy feet shall they lick up : and thou shalt know that I am the Lord , who will not suffer those who hope in me to be ashamed . * Shall the prey be taken from the mighty , or shall the captive of the victor escape ? * For thus hath said the Lord , Also the captive of the mighty shall be taken away , and the prey of the powerful shall escape ; and with those who contend against thee will I contend , and thy children will I indeed save . * And I will feed thy oppressors with their own flesh ; and as with new wine shall they be made drunken with their own blood : and all flesh shall know that I the Eternal am thy Saviour , and thy Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob . * Thus hath said the Lord , Where is your mother ’s bill of divorcement , wherewith I have sent her away ? or who of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? behold , for your iniquities were ye sold , and for your transgressions was your mother sent away .

---