Isaiah 43

43 ¹But now, this is what our Father says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. ²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not consume you. ³For I am your Father, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. ^a a v3 Cush (present-day Sudan and Ethiopia) and Seba were neighboring regions of northeast Africa. ⁴Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give people in exchange for you, and nations in exchange for your life. ⁵Do not be afraid, for I am with you. From the east I will bring your children, and from the west I will gather you. ⁶To the north I will say, Release them, and to the south, Keep them no longer; bring back my sons from distant lands and my daughters from earth's farthest reaches, ⁷everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. ⁸Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf. ⁹All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this and tell us the former things? Let the nations bring their witnesses to prove they are right, so that others may hear and say, It is true. ¹⁰You are my witnesses, declares our Father, and my chosen servant, so that you can know and trust me and grasp that I am he. No god was formed before me, and none will come after me. ¹¹I, I am your Father, and besides me there is no savior. ¹²I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no foreign god among you; and you are my witnesses, declares our Father, and I am your Father. ¹³From this day on I am he; there is no one who can deliver from my hand. I act, and who can turn it back?

A Way Through the Wilderness

¹⁴This is what our Father says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, the Babylonians, in the ships they are so proud of. ¹⁵I am your Father, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶This is what our Father says—he who makes a way in the sea, a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior together—they lie down and cannot rise, snuffed out, quenched like a wick: ¹⁸Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of the past. ¹⁹Look, I am doing a new thing; now it springs up—do you not see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ²⁰The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, ²¹the people I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.

²²"Yet you did not call on me, Jacob; you have grown weary of me, Israel. ²³You have not brought me sheep for your burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you with grain offerings or weary you with frankincense. ²⁴You have not bought me fragrant cane with money, nor satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your wrongdoing.

²⁵"I, I am he who blots out your rebellions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. ^b b v25 Right in the middle of the indictment, our Father interrupts to promise free forgiveness — wiping away sins for his own sake and choosing never to bring them up again. ²⁶Remind me; let us argue it out together; state your case, that you may be proved right. ²⁷Your first father sinned, and your spokesmen rebelled against me. ^c c v27 First father likely refers to Jacob or Abraham, Israel's founding ancestor. ²⁸So I profaned the officials of the sanctuary; I handed Jacob over to destruction and Israel to scorn."