Isaiah 43

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

But now, says the Lord your Maker, O Jacob, and your life-giver, O Israel: have no fear, for I have taken up your cause; naming you by your name, I have made you mine.

2 When thou shalt pass through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee: when thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and the flames shall not burn in thee:

When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not go over you: when you go through the fire, you will not be burned; and the flame will have no power over you.

3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia and Saba for thee.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour; I have given Egypt as a price for you, Ethiopia and Seba for you.

4 Since thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Because of your value in my eyes, you have been honoured, and loved by me; so I will give men for you, and peoples for your life.

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

Have no fear, for I am with you: I will take your seed from the east, and get you together from the west;

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

I will say to the north, Give them up; and to the south, Do not keep them back; send back my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;

7 And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him.

Every one who is named by my name, and whom I have made for my glory, who has been formed and designed by me.

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

Send out the blind people who have eyes, and those who have ears, but they are shut.

9 All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are gathered: who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified, and hear, and say: It is truth.

Let all the nations come together, and let the peoples be present: who among them is able to make this clear, and give us word of earlier things? let their witnesses come forward, so that they may be seen to be true, and that they may give ear, and say, It is true.

10 You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know, and believe me, and understand that I myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none.

You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have taken for myself: so that you may see and have faith in me, and that it may be clear to you that I am he; before me there was no God formed, and there will not be after me.

11 I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me.

I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no saviour but me.

12 I have declared, and have saved. I have made it heard, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and I am God.

I gave the word, and made it clear, and there was no strange god among you: for this reason you are my witnesses, says the Lord.

13 And from the beginning I am the same, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall turn it away?

From time long past I am God, and from this day I am he: there is no one who is able to take you out of my hand: when I undertake a thing, by whom will my purpose be changed?

14 Thus saith the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships.

The Lord, who has taken up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, Because of you I have sent to Babylon, and made all their seers come south, and the Chaldaeans whose cry is in the ships.

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

I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Maker of Israel, your King.

16 Thus saith the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.

This is the word of the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, and a road through the deep waters;

17 Who brought forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the strong: they lay down to sleep together, and they shall not rise again: they are broken as flax, and are extinct.

Who sends out the war-carriages and the horses, the army with all its force; they have come down, they will not get up again; like a feebly burning light they are put out.

18 Remember not former things, and look not on things of old.

Give no thought to the things which are past; let the early times go out of your minds.

19 Behold I do new things, and now they shall spring forth, verily you shall know them: I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

See, I am doing a new thing; now it is starting; will you not take note of it? I will even make a way in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country.

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

The beasts of the field will give me honour, the jackals and the ostriches: because I send out waters in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country, to give drink to the people whom I have taken for myself:

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

Even the people whom I made to be the witnesses of my praise.

22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, neither hast thou laboured about me, O Israel.

But you have made no prayer to me, O Jacob: and you have given no thought to me, O Israel.

23 Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast thou glorified me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with oblations, nor wearied thee with incense.

You have not made me burned offerings of sheep, or given me honour with your offerings of beasts; I did not make you servants to give me an offering, and I did not make you tired with requests for perfumes.

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

You have not got me sweet-smelling plants with your money, or given me pleasure with the fat of your offerings: but you have made me a servant to your sins, and you have made me tired with your evil doings.

25 I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins.

I, even I, am he who takes away your sins; and I will no longer keep your evil doings in mind.

26 Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together: tell if thou hast any thing to justify thyself.

Put me in mind of this; let us take up the cause between us: put forward your cause, so that you may be seen to be in the right.

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

Your first father was a sinner, and your guides have gone against my word.

28 And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to reproach.

Your chiefs have made my holy place unclean, so I have made Jacob a curse, and Israel a thing of shame.