Isaiah 48:12-22

“Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am the One and Only, the First and the Last. With my mighty hand I laid the foundation of the earth; with the span of my right hand I spread out the cosmos. And when I speak to them, they both stand at attention. Now, all of you gather around and listen. Which of the gods has foretold these things? I, YAHWEH, love this man, and he will carry out my purpose against Babylon. He will be my ‘arm of might’ against the Babylonians! I am the one; yes, I am the one who called him by name before he was born. I have led him forward on a prosperous, successful path.” “Draw near to me and listen: From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the beginning of time, I was there.” And now Lord YAHWEH has sent me, empowered by his Spirit! This is what YAHWEH, your Kinsman-Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am YAHWEH, your God. I am the One who teaches you how to succeed and who leads you step by step in the way you should go. If only you had listened to my commands, then peace would have flowed like a river for you and success would wash over you like waves of the sea. Your children would have multiplied to become like the sand of the seashore and your descendants like grains of sand. There would be no end of them, and I would not cut them off.” Go! Leave Babylon! Flee from Chaldea! Announce it with joyous singing! Let everyone know! Proclaim it to the ends of the earth! Say it loud and clear: “YAHWEH has rescued his servant Jacob!” The people weren’t thirsty when he led them through barren, desolate deserts, for he broke open the rock for water to flow for them. The rock was split open, and rivers gushed out! “There is never peace,” YAHWEH says, “for the wicked.”