Jesaja 43,20 | New International Reader’s Version

The Lord saves Israel

1 Family of Jacob, the LORD created you. People of Israel, he formed you. He says, ‘Do not be afraid. I will set you free. I will send for you by name. You belong to me. 2 You will pass through deep waters. But I will be with you. You will pass through the rivers. But their waters will not sweep over you. You will walk through fire. But you will not be burned. The flames will not harm you. 3 I am the LORD your God. I am the Holy One of Israel. I am the one who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free. I will give up Cush and Seba for you. 4 You are priceless to me. I love you and honour you. So I will trade other people for you. I will give up other nations to save your lives. 5 Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bring your people back from the east. I will gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, “Let them go!” And I will say to the south, “Do not hold them back.” Bring my sons from far away. Bring my daughters from the farthest places on earth. 7 Bring back everyone who belongs to me. I created them to bring glory to me. I formed them and made them.’ 8 Lead my people into court. They have eyes but can’t see. Bring those who have ears but can’t hear. 9 All the nations are gathering together. All of them are coming. Which one of their gods said in advance that the people of Israel would return? Which of them told us anything at all about the past? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right. Then others will hear them. And they will say, ‘What they said is true.’ 10 ‘People of Israel, you are my witnesses,’ announces the LORD. ‘I have chosen you to be my servant. I wanted you to know me and believe in me. I wanted you to understand that I am the one and only God. Before me, there was no other god at all. And there will not be any god after me. 11 I am the one and only LORD. I am the only one who can save you. 12 I have made known what would happen. I saved you. I have told you about it. I did this. It was not some other god you worship. You are my witnesses that I am God,’ announces the LORD. 13 ‘And that is not all! I have always been God, and I always will be. No one can save people from my power. When I do something, who can undo it?’

The Lord is full of mercy but Israel is unfaithful

14 The LORD sets his people free. He is the Holy One of Israel. He says, ‘People of Israel, I will send an army to Babylon to save you. I will cause all the Babylonians to run away. They will try to escape in the ships they were so proud of. 15 I am your LORD and King. I am your Holy One. I created you.’ 16 Long ago the LORD opened a way for his people to go through the Red Sea. He made a path through the mighty waters. 17 He caused Egypt to send out its chariots and horses. He sent its entire army to its death. Its soldiers lay down there. They never got up again. They were destroyed. They were blown out like a dimly burning flame. But the LORD says, 18 ‘Forget the things that happened in the past. Do not keep on thinking about them. 19 I am about to do something new. It is beginning to happen even now. Don’t you see it coming? I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert. I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land. 20 Even wild dogs and owls honour me. That is because I provide water in the desert for my people to drink. I cause streams to flow in the dry and empty land for my chosen ones. 21 I do it for the people I made for myself. I want them to sing praise to me. 22 ‘Family of Jacob, you have not prayed to me as you should. People of Israel, you have not worn yourselves out for me. 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings. You have not honoured me with your sacrifices. I have not loaded you down by requiring grain offerings. I have not made you tired by requiring you to burn incense. 24 But you have not bought any sweet-smelling cane for me. You have not given me the fattest parts of your animal sacrifices. Instead, you have loaded me down with your sins. You have made me tired with the wrong things you have done. 25 ‘I am the one who wipes out your lawless acts. I do it because of who I am. I will not remember your sins anymore. 26 But let us go to court together. Remind me of what you have done. State your case. Prove to me that you are not guilty. 27 Your father Jacob sinned. The people I sent to teach you refused to obey me. 28 So I put the high officials of your temple to shame. I let Jacob’s family be totally destroyed. And I let people make fun of Israel.

English Standard Version

Israel’s Only Savior

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! 9 All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. 11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. 12 I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God. 13 Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” 14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. 22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! 23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. 24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. 26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. 27 Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.

Jesaja 43,20 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Lord saves Israel

The Lord is full of mercy but Israel is unfaithful

Israel’s Only Savior