Isaiah 43:16-21

Expanded Bible

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says.
    He is the one who made a road through the sea [v. 2]
    and a path through ·rough [strong; mighty] waters.
¹⁷ He is the one who ·defeated [^Lled out] the chariots and horses
    and the mighty armies [Ex. 14:4–9].
They ·fell together [lay down] and will never rise again.
    They were ·destroyed [extinguished] as a ·flame [^Lwick] is put out.
¹⁸ The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,
    and do not ·think about [consider; dwell on] the past.
¹⁹ Look at the new thing I am going to do.
    It is already ·happening [^Lsprouting/springing up]. Don’t you see it?
I will make a ·road [path; way] in the ·desert [wilderness; ^Cthe return from Babylon is portrayed as a new Exodus]
    and ·rivers^[a] [streams] in the ·dry land [desert; wasteland].
²⁰ Even the wild animals will ·be thankful to [honor] me—
    the ·wild dogs [jackals] and ·owls [or ostriches].
They will honor me when I put water in the ·desert [wilderness]
    and ·rivers [streams] in the ·dry land [desert; wasteland]
to give ·water [drink] to my people, ·the ones I chose [my chosen; 42:1].
²¹ The people I ·made [^Lformed for myself]
    will ·sing songs to praise me [^Ldeclare/proclaim my praise].