Isaiah 43
Israel's Redeemer
1But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
5Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.
6I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’”
8Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
9Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”
10“You are my witnesses,” says the LORD, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
11I myself am the LORD. Besides me, there is no savior.
12I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown, and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses”, says the LORD, “and I am God.
13Yes, since the day was, I am he. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?”
Babylon's Destruction and Israel's Sin
14The LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16The LORD, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters,
17who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick) says:
18“Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old.
19Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
22Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
23You have not brought me any of your sheep for burnt offerings, neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.
24You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities.
25I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
26Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare your case, that you may be justified.
27Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.
28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult.”
Isaiah 43 presents God's tender reassurance to Israel of His unwavering commitment despite their unfaithfulness. The chapter opens with divine promises of protection through trials and gathering from exile, emphasizing Israel's precious status as God's chosen people. It transitions to address Israel's spiritual lethargy and ingratitude, yet concludes with God's gracious promise to blot out their transgressions for His own sake, demonstrating His character as the sole Redeemer.
Context
This chapter continues the comfort theme from Isaiah 40-42, moving from general consolation to specific promises of restoration and addressing Israel's spiritual condition.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-7Divine Reassurance and ProtectionGod promises to be with Israel through trials and to gather them from exile because of His love.
- 8-13Israel as Witnesses to God's UniquenessGod calls Israel to testify that He alone is God and Savior before the nations.
- 14-21Promise of New DeliveranceGod promises to defeat Babylon and perform a new exodus greater than the first.
- 22-28Israel's Unfaithfulness and God's GraceDespite Israel's spiritual negligence and sin, God promises forgiveness for His own name's sake.
Israel's Redeemer
43:1–43:13God promises redemption and protection to Israel, declaring them His witnesses and chosen people, emphasizing His unique identity as the only God and Savior.
person_contrast
Jacob's transformation from covenant recipient to divine witness appears uniquely in this passage, where God shifts from establishing promises with the patriarch to declaring his descendants as testimonial evidence of divine supremacy.
Babylon's Destruction and Israel's Sin
43:14–43:28God promises to destroy Babylon and do a new thing for His people, despite Israel's failure to worship Him properly, offering forgiveness while acknowledging their ancestral sin.
person_contrast
Jacob appears alongside divine forgiveness and renewal rather than his typical covenant contexts, marking one of only four passages where the patriarch's name coincides with explicit absolution of sin.
Isaiah 43:1
Isaiah 44:2lexicalThis is what the LORD who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my ser…
Isaiah 49:5lexicalNow the LORD, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel t…
Isaiah 41:14lexicalDon’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One…
Isaiah 43:2
Lamentations 2:3lexicalHe has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has bu…
Psalms 106:18lexicalA fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.
Isaiah 10:17lexicalThe light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his bri…
Hosea 7:6lexicalFor they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their anger smolders all night. In the morning…
Isaiah 43:3
Genesis 10:7lexicalThe sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan.
1 Chronicles 1:9lexicalThe sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
Isaiah 43:5
Psalms 107:3lexicaland gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Isaiah 59:19lexicalSo they will fear the LORD’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing…
Isaiah 43:8
Isaiah 35:5lexicalThen the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Leviticus 19:14lexical“‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
Isaiah 42:19lexicalWho is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and…
Exodus 4:11lexicalThe LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, the LORD?
Isaiah 29:18lexicalIn that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of da…
Isaiah 43:9
Zephaniah 3:8lexical“Therefore wait for me”, says the LORD, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the…
Isaiah 50:8lexicalHe who justifies me is near. Who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him c…
Micah 2:12lexicalI will surely assemble all of you, Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together as the sh…
Isaiah 43:10
Isaiah 44:9lexicalEveryone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t se…
Isaiah 49:7lexicalThe LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a s…
Isaiah 43:14
Isaiah 48:20lexicalLeave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With the sound of joyful shouting announce this, tell it even to the end of the…
Isaiah 49:7lexicalThe LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a s…
Jeremiah 43:3lexicalbut Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put…
Jeremiah 50:34lexicalTheir Redeemer is strong. The LORD of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to…
Isaiah 47:1lexical“Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldean…
Isaiah 43:17
Isaiah 42:3lexicalHe won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
2 Kings 6:14lexicalTherefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night and surrounded the city.
2 Kings 7:6lexicalFor the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, even the noise of a…
1 Kings 20:1lexicalBen Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and ch…
1 Kings 20:25lexicalMuster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in…
Isaiah 43:20
Isaiah 34:13lexicalThorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a co…
Micah 1:8lexicalFor this I will lament and wail. I will go stripped and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like the ostriches…
Job 30:29lexicalI am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
Isaiah 43:23
Jeremiah 17:26lexicalThey will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowla…
Isaiah 66:3lexicalHe who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an o…
Jeremiah 6:20lexicalTo what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are…
Ezekiel 45:15lexicaland one lamb of the flock out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel—for a meal offering, for a burnt…
1 Samuel 2:29lexicalWhy do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor your sons above m…
Isaiah 43:24
Leviticus 4:35lexicalHe shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall…
Leviticus 4:26lexicalAll its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make aton…
Hosea 8:13lexicalAs for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the LORD doesn’t accept them. Now he will rem…
Isaiah 43:25
Psalms 25:7lexicalDon’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Remember me according to your loving kindness, for your good…
Isaiah 44:22lexicalI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed…
Psalms 109:14lexicalLet the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the LORD. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Micah 3:8lexicalBut as for me, I am full of power by the LORD’s Spirit, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedie…
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