2 ARST You say that you live in the holy city of Jerusalem and you insincerely say that you are relying on the God to whom you people of Israel belong, the one who is Yahweh, commander of the angel armies. BSB BSB: who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
3 ARST “Long ago I predicted what would happen. And then suddenly, I caused those things to happen. BSB BSB: I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4 ARST I knew that you people were very stubborn; I knew that your heads were as hard as iron or brass. BSB BSB: For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
5 ARST That is why I told you those things long ago. Long before they occurred, I announced that they would occur, in order that when they happened you could not say‘Our idols did it; our statue carved out of wood or our idol made of metal caused them to happen.’ BSB BSB: Therefore I declared it to you long ago; I announced it before it came to pass, so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this; my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’
6 ARST You have heard those things that I predicted, and now you have seen that they have all occurred, so why do you not admit it? Now I will tell you new things, things that you have not known previously. BSB BSB: You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.
7 ARST I am causing them to happen now; they are not things I did long ago. So you cannot say,‘We already knew about those things.’ BSB BSB: They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot claim, ‘I already knew them!’
8 ARST I will tell you about things that you have never heard about or understood before. Even long ago you did not pay attention to me. I know that you act very deceitfully; you have rebelled against me since you first became a nation. BSB BSB: You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
9 ARST But for my own sake, in order that I will be honored, I will not punish you immediately and I will not completely get rid of you. BSB BSB: For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath; for the sake of My praise I will restrain it, so that you will not be cut off.
10 ARST I have purified you, but not the way people refine silver. Instead, I have caused you to suffer very much to get rid of your impure behavior, BSB BSB: See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 ARST But for my own sake I will delay punishing you more; I will delay for my own sake, in order that my reputation will not be damaged. I will not allow any person or any idol to be honored as I deserve to be honored.” BSB BSB: For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.
12 ARST “You descendants of Jacob, you people of Israel whom I have chosen, listen to me! Only I am God; I am the one who begins everything and who causes everything to end. BSB BSB: Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.
13 ARST I am the one who laid the foundation of the earth. I stretched out the sky with my hand. And when I tell the stars to appear, they all do what I tell them. BSB BSB: Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
14 ARST All of you, gather together and listen to me. None of your idols has told this to you: I, Yahweh, have chosen Cyrus to assist me, and he will do to Babylon what I want him to do, and his army will destroy the army of Babylonia. BSB BSB: Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 ARST I have said it; I have summoned Cyrus. I have appointed him, and he will accomplish everything that he attempts to do. BSB BSB: I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.
16 ARST Come close to me and listen to what I say. Long ago I told you plainly what would happen, and when those things occurred, I was causing them to happen.” And now Yahweh the Lord and his Spirit have sent me, the prophet Isaiah, to give you a message. BSB BSB: Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.
17 ARST This is what Yahweh, the one who saves you, the Holy God of us Israelites, says:“I am Yahweh, your God; I teach you what is important for you to prosper; I direct you and lead you to do the things that you should do. BSB BSB: Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.
18 ARST I wish that you had paid attention to my commands! If you had done that, things would have gone well for you like a river that flows gently; you would have been successful again and again, like waves that come without ceasing. BSB BSB: If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
19 ARST Your descendants would have been as many as the grains of sand on the seashore which no one can count. I would not have needed to destroy them; the country of Israel would not have been destroyed. BSB BSB: Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”
20 ARST However, now I tell you, leave Babylon! Flee from being slaves of the people of Babylonia! Proclaim this message joyfully; send it to the most remote places on the earth:‘Yahweh freed the people of Israel from being slaves in Egypt.’ BSB BSB: Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
21 ARST They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert, because he split open the rock and caused water to gush out for them to drink.’ BSB BSB: 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 ARST But things will not go well like that for wicked people,” says Yahweh. BSB BSB: “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.