Isaiah 43

1 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.

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 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 Do not be afraid, because I am with you. [Some day] I will gather your descendants from the east and 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 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.

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 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].’

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 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.

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

9 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].”

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 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.

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, [only] I, am Yahweh, and there is no other one who can save you.

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

12 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.

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 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.”

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 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.

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 Yahweh, your Holy One, the one who caused Israel to become a nation, and the one who is really your king.

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

16 I am Yahweh, the one who opened a path through the water, making a road through the [Red] Sea.

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

17 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.

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 But do not think [only] about what happened in the past, long ago [DOU].

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

19 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.

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 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;

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 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.

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

22 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.

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

23 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.

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 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).

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 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.

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

26 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]?

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 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.

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

28 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.”

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