Israel Refined for God's Glory

Isaiah 48

¹ Hear this, O house of Jacob,

who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came forth from the loins ₁ of Judah;
who swear by the name of the Lord,
and invoke the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
² For they call themselves after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts 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.
⁴ Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead 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."

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.
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."
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.

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.
¹⁰ See, I have refined you, but not like ₂ silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.
¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for why should my name ₃ be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.