New King James Version

Isaiah 48:1-13 New King James Version (NKJV)

1. “Hear this, O house of Jacob,Who are called by the name of Israel,And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;Who swear by the name of the Lord,And make mention of the God of Israel,But not in truth or in righteousness;

2. For they call themselves after the holy city,And lean on the God of Israel;The Lord of hosts is His name:

3. “I have declared the former things from the beginning;They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

4. Because I knew that you were obstinate,And your neck was an iron sinew,And your brow bronze,

5. Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,And my carved image and my molded imageHave commanded them.’

6. “You have heard;See all this.And will you not declare it?I have made you hear new things from this time,Even hidden things, and you did not know them.

7. They are created now and not from the beginning;And before this day you have not heard them,Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’

8. Surely you did not hear,Surely you did not know;Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,And were called a transgressor from the womb.

9. “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger,And for My praise I will restrain it from you,So that I do not cut you off.

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

11. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;For how should My name be profaned?And I will not give My glory to another.

12. “Listen to Me, O Jacob,And Israel, My called:I am He, I am the First,I am also the Last.

13. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;When I call to them,They stand up together.