New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came forth from the loins of Judah; who swear by the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
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Give ear to this, O family of Jacob, you who are named by the name of Israel, and have come out of the body of Judah; who take oaths by the name of the Lord, and make use of the name of the God of Israel, but not truly and not in good faith.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.
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For they say that they are of the holy town, and put their faith in the God of Israel: the Lord of armies is his name.
3 The former things I declared long ago, they went out from my mouth and I made them known; then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.
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I gave word in the past of the things which came about; they came from my mouth, and I made them clear: suddenly I did them, and they came about.
4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
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Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;
5 I declared them to you from long ago, before they came to pass I announced them to you, so that you would not say, "My idol did them, my carved image and my cast image commanded them."
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For this reason I made it clear to you in the past, before it came I gave you word of it: for fear that you might say, My god did these things, and my pictured and metal images made them come about.
6 You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.
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All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge.
7 They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, so that you could not say, "I already knew them."
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They have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of them.
8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and that from birth you were called a rebel.
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Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.
9 For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, so that I may not cut you off.
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Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.
10 See, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.
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See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for why should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
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For myself, even because of my name, I will do it; for I will not let my name be shamed; and my glory I will not give to another.
12 Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.
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Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; I am he, I am the first and I am the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand at attention.
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Yes, by my hand was the earth placed on its base, and by my right hand the heavens were stretched out; at my word they take up their places.
14 Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
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Come together, all of you, and give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken and called him, I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
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I, even I, have given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.
16 Draw near to me, hear this! From the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.
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Come near to me, and give ear to this; from the start I did not keep it secret; from the time of its coming into existence I was there: and now the Lord God has sent me, and given me his spirit.
17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go.
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The Lord who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, I am the Lord your God, who is teaching you for your profit, guiding you by the way in which you are to go.
18 O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea;
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If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.
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Your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.
20 Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it forth to the end of the earth; say, "The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!"
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Go out of Babylon, go in flight from the Chaldaeans; with the sound of song make it clear, give the news, let the word go out even to the end of the earth: say, The Lord has taken up the cause of 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 open the rock and the water gushed out.
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They had no need of water when he was guiding them through the waste lands: he made water come out of the rock for them: the rock was parted and the waters came flowing out.
22 "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."
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There is no peace, says the Lord, for the evil-doers.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.