Israel’s Stubbornness

1“Listen to this, O house of Jacob,

you who are called by the name of Israel,

who have descended from the line of Judah,

who swear by the name of the LORD,

who invoke the God of Israel—

but not in truth or righteousness—

2who indeed call yourselves after the holy city

and lean on the God of Israel;

the LORD of Hosts is His name.

3I foretold the former things long ago;

they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them.

Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

4For I knew that you are stubborn;

your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

5Therefore 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.’

6You 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.

7They are created now, and not long ago;

you have not heard of them before today.

So you cannot claim,

‘I already knew them!’

8You 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.

9For 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.

10See, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

11For 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.