Yeshayah 43
43
1But now thus saith Hashem that created thee, O Ya'akov, And He that formed thee, O Yisroel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy shem; thou art Mine.
2When thou passest through the mayim, I will be with thee; and through the neharot, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the eish, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3For I am Hashem Eloheicha, the Kadosh Yisroel, thy Moshi'a: I gave Mitzrayim for thy kofer (ransom), Kush and Seva in thy place.
4Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honored, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give adam#43:4 See Isa 53:8 in exchange for thee, and people in exchange for thy nefesh.
5Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy zera from the mizrach (east), and gather thee from the ma'arav (west);
6I will say to the tzafon (north), Give them up; and to the teiman (south), hold not back; bring My banim from afar, and My banot from the ketzeh ha'aretz;
7Even every one that is called by My Shem, whom I have created for My kavod, whom I have formed and I have made.
8Bring forth the Am Ivver that have eyes, and the chereshim that have oznayim.
9Let kol HaGoyim be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled; who among them can declare this, and show us rishonot (former things)? Let them bring forth their edim (witnesses), that they may be vindicated: or let them hear, and say, It is emes.
10Ye are My edim (witnesses), saith Hashem. And Avdi whom I have chosen; so that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that Ani Hu (I am He); before Me there was no El formed, neither shall there be after Me.
11I, even I, am Hashem; and apart from Me there is no Moshi'a.
12I have declared, and have saved, and I have proclaimed, when there was no zar (foreign) [g-d] among you; therefore you#43:12 plural are My edim (witnesses), saith Hashem, that I am El.
13Yes, before the yom was, Ani Hu (I am He); and there is none that can deliver out of My Yad; I work, and who shall reverse it?
14Thus saith Hashem, your Go'el, the Kadosh Yisroel; For your sake#43:14 See Isa 45:4 I have sent to Babylon, and I shall bring down the fugitives, all of them, even the Kasdim (Chaldeans), whose shout of joy is in the ships.
15I am Hashem, your Kadosh, the Boreh Yisroel, your Melech.
16Thus saith Hashem, which maketh a derech in the yam, and a path in the mayim azzim (mighty waters);
17Which drew out the merkavah and sus, the army and warrior; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick.
18Remember ye not the rishonot (former things) neither consider kadmoniyyot (the things of old).
19Hineni, I am doing a chadashah (new thing); now titzmach (it shall spring forth; Tzemach); shall ye not perceive it? I will even make a derech in the midbar, and neharot in the desert.
20The animal of the wild shall honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give mayim in the midbar, and neharot in the desert, to give drink to My People, My Bachir.
21This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My tehillah (praise).
22But thou hast not called upon Me, O Ya'akov; but thou hast been weary of Me, O Yisroel.
23Thou hast not brought Me the seh (lamb) of thy olot; neither hast thou honored Me with thy zevakhim. I have not caused thee to serve with a minchah, nor wearied thee with levonah (incense, frankincense).
24Thou hast bought Me no fragrant calamus with kesef, neither hast thou filled Me with the chelev of thy zevakhim; but thou hast made Me to serve with thy chattot, thou hast wearied Me with thine avonot.
25I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy peysha'im for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy chattot.
26Put Me in remembrance; let us plead together at law; declare thou, lema'an (for the sake of) thou being declared righteous.
27Avicha HaRishon hath sinned, and thy melitzim (mediators) have rebelled against Me.
28Therefore I have profaned the Sarei Kodesh, (Holy Princes) and have given Ya'akov to cherem, and Yisroel to giddufim (revilings).
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Yeshayah 43: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Isaiah 43
43
The Lord Will Rescue His People
1 Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect#tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.” you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;
when you pass#tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not harm#tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.” you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,#sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4. your deliverer.
I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,
Ethiopia and Seba#sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9. in place of you.
4 Since you are precious and special in my sight,#tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”
and I love you,
I will hand over people in place of you,
nations in place of your life.
5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
From the east I will bring your descendants;
from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’
Bring my sons from distant lands,
and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,
7 everyone who belongs to me,#tn Heb “everyone who is called by my name” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed – yes, whom I made!
The Lord Declares His Sovereignty
8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
9 All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us?#tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’
10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider#tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me.#tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”
11 I, I am the Lord,
and there is no deliverer besides me.
12 I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,
and there was no other god among you.
You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.
13 From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power;#tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”
I will act, and who can prevent it?”
The Lord Will Do Something New
14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector,#tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14. the Holy One of Israel:#sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives,#tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs.#tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,#sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
the one who created Israel, your king.”
16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,#tn Heb “led out chariots and horses.” The words “to destruction” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The verse refers to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.
together with a mighty army.
They fell down,#tn Heb “lay down”; NAB “lie prostrate together”; CEV “lie dead”; NRSV “they lie down.” never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;#tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”
don’t recall these former events.
19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen!#tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.” Do you not recognize#tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.” it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths#tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”). in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.”#tn Heb “[so] they might declare my praise.”
The Lord Rebukes His People
22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long#tn Or “strive”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “been weary of me.” for me, O Israel.
23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding#tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification. incense.
24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds;#tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”
you did not present to me#tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.” the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds.#sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.
25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;
your sins I do not remember.
26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!
You, prove to me that you are right!#tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”
27 The father of your nation#tn Heb “your first father.” This could refer to Abraham (see 51:2), but elsewhere in Isaiah he does not appear in a negative light (see 29:22; 41:8; 63:16). A more likely candidate is Jacob/Israel, also referred to as the nation’s “father” elsewhere (see 58:14; 63:16). sinned;
your spokesmen#tn On the meaning of the term לִיץ (lits), see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ. This may refer to the nation’s prophets, priests, and/or kings. rebelled against me.
28 So I defiled your holy princes,
and handed Jacob over to destruction,
and subjected#tn The word “subjected” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Israel to humiliating abuse.”
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