Isaiah 43

¹ And now, thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for Ihave redeemed you; I have cal ed you by your name, you are mine.

² Should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you; or through rivers, they will not swal ow you up.Should you walk through fire, you wil not suffer, and the flame wil not burn you.

³ For I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have given Egypt for your ransom,Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

⁴ Since I regard you as precious, since you are honoured and I love you, I therefore give people inexchange for you, and nations in return for your life.

⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I shal bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from thewest.

⁶ To the north I shal say, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back!' Bring back my sonsfrom far away, and my daughters from the remotest part of the earth,

⁷ everyone who bears my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I havemade.

⁸ Bring forward the people that is blind, yet has eyes, that is deaf and yet has ears.

⁹ Let al the nations assemble, let the peoples gather here! Which of them has proclaimed this andrevealed things to us in the past? Let them bring their witnesses to justify themselves, let others hear and say, 'Itis true.'

¹⁰ You yourselves are my witnesses, declares Yahweh, and the servant whom I have chosen, so thatyou may know and believe me and understand that it is I. No god was formed before me, nor wil be after me.

¹¹ I, I am Yahweh, and there is no other Saviour but me.

¹² I have revealed, have saved, and have proclaimed, not some foreigner among you. You are mywitnesses, declares Yahweh, I am God,

¹³ yes, from eternity I am. No one can deliver from my hand; when I act, who can thwart me?

¹⁴ Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, Ishall knock down al the prison bars, and the Chaldaeans' shouts of joy wil change to lamentations.

¹⁵ I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your king.

¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh, who made a way through the sea, a path in the raging waters,

¹⁷ who led out chariot and horse together with an army of picked troops: they lay down never to riseagain, they were snuffed out, put out like a wick.

¹⁸ No need to remember past events, no need to think about what was done before.

¹⁹ Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in thedesert and rivers in wastelands.

²⁰ The wild animals wil honour me, the jackals and the ostriches, for bestowing water in the desert andrivers on the wastelands for my people, my chosen one, to drink.

²¹ The people I have shaped for myself wil broadcast my praises.

²² But, Jacob, you have not invoked me; no, Israel, you have grown weary of me.

²³ You have not brought me lambs as your burnt offerings and have not honoured me with yoursacrifices. I have not subjected you to cereal offering, I have not wearied you by demanding incense.

²⁴ You have not bought expensive reed for me or sated me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead byyour sins you have trected me like a slave, you have wearied me with your crimes,

²⁵ I, I it is who blot out your acts of revolt for my own sake and shal not cal your sins to mind.

²⁶ Remind me, and we will judge this together; state your own case and justify yourself.

²⁷ Your first ancestor sinned, your interpreters revolted against me.

²⁸ That is why I deposed the chief men of my sanctuary, why I put Jacob under the curse of destructionand subjected Israel to insult.