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48. 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—
² you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city
   and claim to rely on the God of Israel—
   the LORD Almighty is his name:
³ I foretold the former things long ago,
   my mouth announced them and I made them known;
   then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴ For I knew how stubborn you were;
   your neck muscles were iron,
   your forehead was bronze.
⁵ Therefore 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.’
⁶ You 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.
⁷ They are created now, and not long ago;
   you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
   ‘Yes, I knew of them.’
⁸ You 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.
⁹ For 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.
¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
   I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ For 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.

Israel Freed

    ¹² “Listen to me, Jacob,
   Israel, whom I have called:
I am he;
   I am the first and I am the last.
¹³ My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
   and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
   they all stand up together.

    ¹⁴ “Come together, all of you, and listen:
   Which of the idols has foretold these things?
The LORD’s chosen ally
   will carry out his purpose against Babylon;
   his arm will be against the Babylonians. Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20
¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken;
   yes, I have called him.
I will bring him,
   and he will succeed in his mission.

¹⁶ “Come near me and listen to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;
at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me,
endowed with his Spirit.

    ¹⁷ This is what the LORD says—
   your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
   who teaches you what is best for you,
   who directs you in the way you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention to my commands,
   your peace would have been like a river,
   your well-being like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants would have been like the sand,
   your children like its numberless grains;
their name would never be blotted out
   nor destroyed from before me.”

    ²⁰ Leave Babylon,
   flee from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy
   and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;
   say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
²¹ They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
   he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock
   and water gushed out.

²² “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

4. For I knew that thou art obstinate. Literally it is, “On account of my knowing,” or, “From nay knowing.” Here the Lord solemnly declares by the Prophet, that it was on account of the hard-heartedness of the people that he spake of future events; as if he had said that he acted more liberally towards them than he ought to have done. Not that this was the only end which he aimed at; for we know that the chief use of doctrine belongs to believers, who gently submit themselves and cheerfully obey; but Isaiah, who had to deal with obstinate men, justly says that, if their depravity had not been incurable, God made use of an excellent remedy, by uttering many successive predictions for the purpose of ratifying his Law. Thus as he had foretold future events to the fathers, so he shews that he follows the same course, in order to conquer or soften the obstinacy and hard-heartedness of the people.

And thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy forehead is of brass. He calls their neck “an iron sinew,” because it cannot be bent. “Sinews” are indeed hard, but still they are capable of being bent; here, he says, there is no bending, because they are untameable. He next mentions “a brazen forehead,” to denote their impudence. There are two ways by which we may be kept in the path of duty; first, if we are submissive and obey good instructions or holy commandments; and secondly, if, after having fallen into any sin, we are moved by sincere shame to repent of what we have done. When these are wanting, it is a sign of desperate wickedness. These are two proofs, therefore, which he has brought forward to shew that the nation was abandoned to everything that was sinful; they were refractory, and they were impudent. And yet, when the Lord cannot cure us in any other way, he treats even our perversity with such forbearance, that he is pleased to give us warning of future events. Thus he assumes, as it were, every possible shape, in order to recall us to himself, and bring us back into the right path.