Isaiah 43
1 Now, therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh—Creating thee, O Jacob, and Fashioning thee O Israel, —Do not fear, For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name. Mine, thou art!
But now, you people of Israel, listen to Yahweh, the one who established your nation. The one who caused you to become a nation [DOU] says this: “Do not be afraid, because I previously rescued you. I enabled you to have a personal relationship with me [MTY], and you belong to me.
2 When thou passest through the waters, with thee, I am, Or, through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee, —When thou walkest through fire, thou shall not be scorched, And, a flame, shall not kindle upon thee;
When you [experience dangerous situations], and [you feel like] [MET] you are crossing deep rivers, I will be with you. When you have very big troubles/difficulties, you will [LIT] be able to endure them. When [people try to kill you like they tried to kill Daniel’s three friends by] throwing them in a fire, you will not [die, just like Daniel’s three friends were not] burned up,
3 For, I,—Yahweh, am, Thy God, The Holy One of Israel Ready to save thee, —I have given, as thy ransom, Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba, in thy stead.
because I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, the one who rescues you. I will enable [the army of the emperor of Persia] to conquer Egypt instead of conquering you; similarly I will enable them to conquer Ethiopia, and Seba [in Arabia], in order that you can be saved.
4 Because thou art precious in mine eyes, art honoured And, I, love thee, —And will give mankind, in thy stead, Yea, peoples, for thy life,
I will cause other countries to be conquered, instead of your country; I will trade them for you, in order that you will not be killed, because you are very precious [DOU] to me and because I love you.
5 Do not fear for, with thee, I am, —From the East, will I bring in thy seed, And, from the West, will I gather thee:
Do not be afraid, because I am with you. [Some day] I will gather your descendants from the east and from the west.
6 I will say to the North Give up! And to the South Do not withhold! Bring in My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth;
I will command the [rulers of the nations to] the north and to the south, ‘Allow all the people of Israel to return [to their country], from the most distant places on the earth.
7 Every one who is called by my Name, Whom for mine own glory, I have created—formed—yea, made!
Allow all those who belong to me [MTY] to return, because I have caused them to become a nation in order that they would honor me; I am the one who has done that [DOU].’
8 Bring forth A blind people that have, eyes, and A deaf, that have, ears.
Summon the people who have eyes but [it is as though] they are blind; summon those who have ears but [because they do not listen to me, it is as though] they are deaf.
9 All the nations, are gathered together Yea there is an assembling of peoples, Who among them, can tell this, And things in advance, can let us hear? Let them set forth their witnesses that they may get their right, Or let them hear, and say Truth!
Gather people of all nations together, ones from all people-groups, [and ask them this]: ‘Has any of their idols foretold the things that are happening now? And can any of them predict what will happen in the future?’ Then bring people who will testify and say ‘I heard them predict things, and what they predicted was what happened,’ [but they will be lying].”
10 Ye, are my witnesses Declareth Yahweh, And my Servant, whom I have chosen, —That ye may take note—and believe me, And perceive that, I, am He, Before me, was not formed a GOD, Nor after me, shall one come into being:
But Yahweh says, “You people of Israel (are my witnesses/know what I have done), and you are the ones who serve me. I chose you in order that you would know me, believe in me, and understand that I am the only one who is [truly] God. There is no other [true] God. There was no other [true] God previously, and there will never be another [true] God.
11 I—I, am Yahweh, —And there is none besides me ready to save:
I, [only] I, am Yahweh, and there is no other one who can save you.
12 I, have told—and will save, and make known, That there is among you no strange one; And, ye, are my witnesses, Declareth Yahweh That, I, am GOD.
I said that I would rescue [your ancestors], and then I rescued them, and I proclaimed [that I had done it]. No foreign god among you did that! And you are witnesses that only I, Yahweh, am God.
13 Even from To-day, I, am He, And none, out of my hand, can deliver, —I work and who reverseth?
I am God, the one who has existed forever and who will exist forever; no one can snatch people from my hand, and no one can alter/change what I have done.”
14 Thus saith Yahweh, Your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, —For your sakes, have I sent into Babylon, And will bring down as fugitives, all of them, —Even the Chaldeans, in the ships which cause them loud outcry.
Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, is the one who rescues you; and this is what he says: “For your sake, I will send [an army] to [attack] Babylon. They will force the people of that city to flee in ships which they have been proud of.
15 I—Yahweh, am Your Holy One, —The Creator of Israel, Your King.
I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the one who caused Israel to become a nation, and the one who is really your king.
16 Thus, saith Yahweh, —Who setteth in the sea, a way, —And in the mighty waters, a path;
I am Yahweh, the one who opened a path through the water, making a road through the [Red] Sea.
17 Who bringeth forth Chariot and horse, Force and strength, Together, shall they lie down They shall not arise, They are extinguished Like a wick, are they quenched!
Then I summoned the great army [of Egypt] to come with all their chariots and horses. [But when they tried to pursue my people], I caused the waves to flow over them [and they drowned]; their lives ended [like the light of a candle ends when someone] [MET] snuffs out the wick.
18 Do not keep in mind former things, —And things of old, do not consider:
But do not think [only] about what happened in the past, long ago [DOU].
19 Behold me! doing a new thing, Now, shall it spring forth, Will ye not take note thereof? Surely I will set In the desert, a way, In a desolate land, rivers:
Instead, consider the new thing that I am going to do. I have already started to do it; can you see it? I am going to make a road through the desert. And I will cause there to be streams in the wasteland/desert.
20 The wild beast of the field shall honour me, Jackals, and ostriches, Because I have given—In the desert, waters, Rivers in, desolate land, To give drink unto my people, my chosen:
The jackals/wolves and owls and other wild creatures will thank me for giving them water in the desert. I will cause streams to appear in the dry desert in order that my people, the ones whom I have chosen, will have water;
21 A people which I have fashioned for myself, My praise, shall they record.
I will do that for the people whom I have created [and chosen] to belong to me, and [some day] they will cause many others to praise me.
22 Yet not upon me, hast thou called, O Jacob, —For thou hast been wearied of me O Israel:
But now, you descendants of Jacob, you refuse to request my help. It seems that you people of Israel have become tired of worshiping me.
23 Thou hast not brought in to me small cattle as thine ascending-offerings, Nor, with thy sacrifices, hast thou honoured me, —I have not oppressed thee with meal-offerings, Nor have I wearied thee with frankincense;
You have not brought to me sheep or goats for offerings that will be completely burned [on the altar]; you have not honored me by [bringing to me any] sacrifices, even though the offerings of grain and incense [that I asked you] to bring to me were not a burden to you.
24 Thou hast not bought for me with silver, fragrant calamus, Nor with the fat of thy sacrifices, hast thou sated me, —Thou hast done nothing but oppress me with thy sins, Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
You have bought for me fragrant reeds, and you have brought me the fat from your sacrifices. But these have not pleased me, because you have burdened me by all the sins that you have committed, and made me weary because of all (your iniquities/the wrong things that you have done).
25 I—I, am he that is ready, To wipe out thy transgressions for mine own sake, —And, thy sins, not remember.
I am the one who is able to forgive you for all your sins; I am the only one who can do that, with the result that I will never think about them again.
26 Put me in mind, Let us enter into judgment at once, —Recount, thou, that thou mayest be justified:
Tell me what I have done that you do not like. Do you think that when you state your case, you will prove that you (are innocent/have done nothing wrong) [IRO]?
27 Thy chief father, hath sinned, And thine interpreters, have transgressed against me;
No, [what has happened is that] the first ancestor of you Israelis sinned [against me], and since then, all your leaders have rebelled against me.
28 So then I must needs profane the rulers of the holy place, —And deliver Jacob to be devoted to destruction, and Israel, unto reviling!
That is why I have caused your priests to be disgraced; and I have allowed others to destroy you people of Israel and caused you to be despised.”
