20:1 Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the
name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out
of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make
mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in
righteousness.
20:2 Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do
not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts;
yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.
20:3 Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and
they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them
suddenly.
20:4 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck
is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
20:5 And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it
came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou
shouldst say—mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my
molten image hath commanded them.
20:6 Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them?
And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden
things, and thou didst not know them.
20:7 They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the
day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou
shouldst say—Behold I knew them.
20:8 Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that
time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very
treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
20:9 Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for
my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.
20:10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction.
20:11 For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I
will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory
unto another.
20:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am
the first, and I am also the last.
20:13 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my
right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up
together.
20:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath
declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he
will fulfill his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do
his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.
20:15 Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have
called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way
prosperous.
20:16 Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the
beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the
Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
20:17 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I
have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who
leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
20:18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace
been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
20:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels
like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor
destroyed from before me.
20:20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice
of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say
ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
20:21 And they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused
the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also and
the waters gushed out.
20:22 And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also,
there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.