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43 But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob,
    and he who formed you, Israel, says:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
    I have called you by your name.
    You are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
    and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned,
    and flame will not scorch you.
For I am Yahweh your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    your Savior.
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
    Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you have been precious and honored in my sight,
    and I have loved you,
    therefore I will give people in your place,
    and nations instead of your life.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    I will bring your offspring from the east,
    and gather you from the west.
I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back!
    Bring my sons from far away,
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
    and whom I have created for my glory,
    whom I have formed,
    yes, whom I have made.’”

Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
    and the deaf who have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together,
    and let the peoples be assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
    and show us former things?
Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified,
    or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”

10 “You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh,
    “With my servant whom I have chosen;
    that you may know and believe me,
    and understand that I am he.
Before me there was no God formed,
    neither will there be after me.
11 I myself am Yahweh.
    Besides me, there is no savior.
12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown,
    and there was no strange god among you.
Therefore you are my witnesses”,
    says Yahweh, “and I am God.
13 Yes, since the day was, I am he.
    There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.
    I will work, and who can hinder it?”

14 Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing. 15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”

16 Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea,

    and a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out the chariot and horse,
    the army and the mighty man
    (they lie down together, they shall not rise;
    they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick) says:
18 “Don’t remember the former things,
    and don’t consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing.
    It springs out now.
    Don’t you know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
    and rivers in the desert.
20 The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me,
    because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,
    to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21     the people which I formed for myself,
    that they might declare my praise.

22 Yet you have not called on me, Jacob;
    but you have been weary of me, Israel.
23 You have not brought me any of your sheep for burnt offerings,
    neither have you honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
    nor wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have bought me no sweet cane with money,
    nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices,
but you have burdened me with your sins.
    You have wearied me with your iniquities.

25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake;
    and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance.
    Let us plead together.
Declare your case,
    that you may be justified.
27 Your first father sinned,
    and your teachers have transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary;
    and I will make Jacob a curse,
    and Israel an insult.”

The Savior of Israel

43 But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
    I gave Ethiopia[a] and Seba in your place.
Others were given in exchange for you.
    I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
    You are honored, and I love you.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
    I will gather you and your children from east and west.
I will say to the north and south,
    ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
    from the distant corners of the earth.
Bring all who claim me as their God,
    for I have made them for my glory.
    It was I who created them.’”

Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
Gather the nations together!
    Assemble the peoples of the world!
Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?
    Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?
Where are the witnesses of such predictions?
    Who can verify that they spoke the truth?

10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.
    “You are my servant.
You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,
    and understand that I alone am God.
There is no other God—
    there never has been, and there never will be.
11 I, yes I, am the Lord,
    and there is no other Savior.
12 First I predicted your rescue,
    then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.
No foreign god has ever done this.
    You are witnesses that I am the only God,”
    says the Lord.
13 “From eternity to eternity I am God.
    No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.
    No one can undo what I have done.”

The Lord’s Promise of Victory

14 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,
    forcing the Babylonians[b] to flee in those ships they are so proud of.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator and King.
16 I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
    making a dry path through the sea.
17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
    with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

18 “But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
19 For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
20 The wild animals in the fields will thank me,
    the jackals and owls, too,
    for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
    so my chosen people can be refreshed.
21 I have made Israel for myself,
    and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

22 “But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.
    You have grown tired of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.
    You have not honored me with sacrifices,
though I have not burdened and wearied you
    with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.
24 You have not brought me fragrant calamus
    or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied me with your faults.

25 “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
    and will never think of them again.
26 Let us review the situation together,
    and you can present your case to prove your innocence.
27 From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;
    all your leaders broke my laws.
28 That is why I have disgraced your priests;
    I have decreed complete destruction[c] for Jacob
    and shame for Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 43:3 Hebrew Cush.
  2. 43:14 Or Chaldeans.
  3. 43:28 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.