Isaiah 43

But now this is what the LORD says, the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: "Do not be afraid, because I have bought you back. I have called you by your name. You are mine.

1But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

Note"The LORD" in small capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God (the four Hebrew letters YHWH), which readers of the Hebrew did not pronounce aloud; ordinary "Lord" is a different word meaning master. "Jacob" and "Israel" are two names for the same ancestor, and here they are used as names for the whole nation descended from him. "Bought you back" translates a legal term (go'el): a relative's duty to pay off a family member's debts, buy back family land that had been sold, or ransom a kinsman out of slavery. The word carries that family obligation, not just a purchase.

2When you go through deep water, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not set you ablaze.

2When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, the one who saves you. I gave Egypt as the price to set you free; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

3For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

Note"The Holy One of Israel" is a title used repeatedly in Isaiah; "holy" means set apart, belonging to a different order than ordinary things. "Ethiopia" is Hebrew Cush, the region south of Egypt roughly matching modern Sudan; Seba was a neighboring territory in the same area. A "ransom" was the price paid to free a captive or slave; the picture is of one nation handed over as the purchase price for another's release.

4Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and because I love you, I will give other people in exchange for you, and nations in place of your life.

4Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

NoteThis continues the ransom image of the previous verse: nations given in trade for Israel, the way money or persons might be exchanged to redeem a captive.

5Do not be afraid, because I am with you. I will bring your children from the east, and I will gather you from the west.

5Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

Note"Your children" translates a word meaning seed or offspring, descendants generally, not sons and daughters of one generation. The four directions describe a scattered population being collected back; the audience addressed is a people already dispersed among foreign nations.

6I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the south, "Do not hold them back!" Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth

6I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

7every one of them who is called by my name. I created that person for my glory; I formed him; yes, I made him.

7Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

8Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.

8Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

9Let all the nations gather together; let the peoples assemble. Which of them can announce this, or tell us what happened before? Let them bring their witnesses to prove they are right, so others may hear and say, "It is true."

9Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

NoteVerses 9 to 13 are staged as a courtroom scene. The nations and their gods are the opposing party, each side calls witnesses, and the question at issue is who announced events in advance. "What happened before" (the "former things") means earlier predictions that came true, offered as evidence. To "prove they are right" is legal language: to be vindicated, to have the verdict go in your favor.

10"You are my witnesses," says the LORD, "and so is my servant, whom I chose. I did this so you would know me, trust me, and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.

10Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

11I, I myself, am the LORD, and there is no savior except me.

11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

12I am the one who announced it, and saved, and made it known, I, when there was no foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses," says the LORD, "that I am God.

12I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

NoteThe King James "strange god" does not mean odd; "strange" in 1611 English meant foreign, belonging to another nation.

13Yes, even before there was a day, I am he. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. When I act, who can stop it?"

13Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

NoteThe King James "who shall let it" reverses in modern English. In 1611 "let" meant hinder or obstruct, the opposite of today's sense, hence "who can stop it." The word survives in tennis, where a "let" is a ball obstructed by the net.

14This is what the LORD says, the one who buys you back, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I have sent to Babylon and brought them all down as runaways, the Chaldeans too, whose shouting filled their ships.

14Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

NoteBabylon was the empire that had captured Jerusalem and deported much of its population; "Chaldeans" was a name for the people who ruled Babylon, used more or less interchangeably with Babylonians. The Hebrew of the last part of this verse is unclear and translations divide: the word rendered "runaways" or "fugitives" can also mean bars or nobles, and the ships may be ones the Chaldeans took pride in or ones they now flee in. The rendering preserves one reading of a genuinely uncertain line.

15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King."

15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

16This is what the LORD says, the one who makes a road through the sea and a path through the powerful water,

16Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

Note"A road through the sea" recalls the escape from Egypt, when the sea was said to have parted so the people could cross on dry ground. Verses 16 and 17 describe that event without naming it, and verse 18 then tells the hearers to stop dwelling on it.

17the one who brings out chariot and horse, army and fighting men together. They lie down and never get up; they are put out, snuffed out like a wick.

17Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

NoteChariots, light horse-drawn fighting platforms, were the elite striking force of ancient armies, so "chariot and horse" stands for military power at its strongest. The King James "tow" means the short coarse fibers of flax, the material a lamp wick was made from; a wick pinched out goes dark instantly and cannot relight itself.

18"Do not keep thinking about what happened before; do not dwell on things from long ago.

18Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19Look, I am doing something new. It is springing up right now, don't you see it? I will make a road through the wilderness and rivers in the dry land.

19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Note"Wilderness" here is not forest but arid, unfarmed country, scrub and rock where nothing grows reliably and travelers can die of thirst. A road and running water there would be the reverse of what the land is.

20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I put water in the wilderness and rivers in the dry land, to give a drink to my people, the ones I chose.

20The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

NoteThe two creatures named are uncertain in Hebrew. The King James "dragons and owls" renders words that most scholars now take as jackals and ostriches, both animals associated with empty desert places; the older translation guessed differently at the same two words.

21This is the people I formed for myself, and they will tell of my praise.

21This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

22But you have not called on me, Jacob. You have grown tired of me, Israel.

22But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

23You have not brought me sheep for your burnt offerings, and you have not honored me with your sacrifices. I have not loaded you down with demands for offerings or worn you out asking for incense.

23Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal placed entirely on the altar fire, with no portion eaten by the worshipers, the most costly of the regular offerings. "Small cattle" in the King James means sheep and goats, as distinct from oxen. Incense was aromatic resin burned to produce fragrant smoke, imported and expensive. The point being made is not that these were skipped, but that God had not been demanding them in the first place.

24You have not bought me sweet-smelling cane with your silver, and you have not satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead, you have loaded me down with your sins; you have worn me out with the wrong you have done.

24Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

Note"Sweet cane" is an aromatic reed imported from a distance and used in the oil for anointing and in incense; buying it "with silver" marks it as a luxury purchase, since silver by weight served as money. The fat of a sacrificed animal was the portion burned on the altar rather than eaten, regarded as the richest part and reserved as God's share.

25I, I myself, am the one who wipes away the wrongs you have done, and I do it for my own sake. I will not remember your sins.

25I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Note"Blots out" is the image of wiping ink off a writing surface so the record no longer exists, debts and offenses were kept as written accounts, and erasure meant the charge could not be produced again.

26Put me in remembrance. Let us argue the case together. State your side, so you may be shown to be right.

26Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

NoteThe legal setting of verse 9 returns. "Let us argue the case" translates a term for two parties bringing a dispute before judgment; "state your side" invites the other party to present evidence, and "shown to be right" means acquitted, having the case decided in your favor.

27Your first father sinned, and the men who spoke for you rebelled against me.

27Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.

Note"Your first father" is deliberately unspecific in the Hebrew and was read differently by different ancient interpreters (it may mean Jacob, the nation's ancestor, or Abraham, or the first human being. The rendering leaves the ambiguity open. "The men who spoke for you" (King James "thy teachers") means the officials who acted as go-betweens with God) priests and prophets who represented the people.

28So I treated the leaders of the holy place as common men. I handed Jacob over to destruction and Israel over to public insult."

28Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

NoteTo "profane" something is to strip it of its set-apart status and treat it as ordinary, the opposite of holy. The "princes of the sanctuary" are the officials in charge of the temple. "Given to the curse" translates a term (herem) for placing something under an irrevocable ban: property or a city devoted to a god, put permanently beyond human use, usually by destruction.