First Nephi — Chapter 20
(See Isaiah 48)
1 Listen, O House of Jacob, called Israel, who are from Judah’s family, or who have been baptized, who make promises in God’s name, and talk about him–but who lie and are not righteous when making promises.
2 Even so, they say they are from the holy city, but they do not trust in the God of Israel, the Lord of Hosts.
3 I talked about everything that would happen from the beginning, and after I had people prophesy these things, I made them happen suddenly.
4 I did it [this way] because I knew you are stubborn.
5 I have talked to you about everything since the beginning. I showed things to you before they happened, in case you would say: “My idol did this, and my statues made these things happen.”
6 You have seen and heard all this. Why won’t you tell others about it? I have showed you new things you did not know about.
7 They are happening now. They did not happen before now. You were not told about them before now, in case you would say: “I already knew this.”
8 You did not hear then; yes, you did not know then, and you would not listen to them before this. I knew you would cheat, and that you would be called a sinner even before you were born.
9 Even so, I will not get angry and completely destroy you now, so my name will be praised.
10 I have made you clean. I have tested you in the furnace of trouble.
11 I will do this to protect my name, because I will not let my name be polluted, and I will not give my glory to anyone else.
12 Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, my chosen ones, because I am He. I am the First, and I am also the Last.
13 My hands made the earth, and my right hand made the heavens. When I call to them, they stand up together.
14 All of you, gather and listen. Who among them has told them these things? The Lord has loved him; and he will keep the promise he made to them. He will do what he wants in Babylon, and he will punish the Chaldeans.
15 The Lord also says this: “I, the Lord, have said this. I have chosen him to tell you, I have brought him, and he will prosper.”
16 Come close to me and listen. I did not talk about these things in secret. I was there with you when they came true. The Lord God sent me, and his Spirit is in me.
17 This is what the Lord, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel says: “I, the Lord your God who teaches you to prosper and leads you in the right way, have sent him.
18 “O, if only you had obeyed my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river’s, and your righteousness would be like the waves of the sea.
19 “You would have had as many children as there are grains of sand. Their names would not have been cut off nor destroyed before me.”
20 Go away from Babylon, run from the Chaldeans! Sing this, shout this to everyone on earth: “The Lord has saved his servant Jacob.
21 “They were not thirsty. He led them through the deserts. He made water come out of a rock for them. He broke the rock, and the waters poured out.”
22 But even though he did all this, and greater things, too, the Lord says: “There is no peace for the wicked.”
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