Deliverance Promised to Israel

12 Listen to Me, O Jacob,

and Israel, whom I have called:

I am He; I am the first,

and I am the last.

13 Surely My own hand founded the earth,

and My right hand spread out the heavens;

when I summon them,

they 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 desire against Babylon,

and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.[fn]

15 I, even I, have spoken;

yes, I have called him.

I have brought him,

and he will succeed in his mission.

16 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 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 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 Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,

and your offspring as numerous as its grains;[fn]

their name would never be cut off

or eliminated from My presence.”

20 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 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.”