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Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah;
who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
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(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel;
Jehovah of hosts is his name):
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I have declared the former things from of old;
yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
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Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
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therefore I have declared it to thee from of old;
before it came to pass I showed it thee;
lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
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Thou hast heard it;
behold all this;
and ye, will ye not declare it?
I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known.
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They are created now, and not from of old;
and before this day thou heardest them not;
lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
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Yea, thou heardest not;
yea, thou knewest not;
yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
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For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
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Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver;
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
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For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it;
for how should [my name] be profaned?
and my glory will I not give to another.
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Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he;
I am the first, I also am the last.
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Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
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Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear;
who among them hath declared these things?
He whom Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans.
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I, even I, have spoken;
yea, I have called him;
I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
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Come ye near unto me, hear ye this;
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit.
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Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
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Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!
then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
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thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
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Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans;
with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
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And they thirsted not when 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.
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There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.