Isaiah 43
43
CHAPTER 43
1And now the Lord God, making of nought thee, Jacob, and forming thee, Israel, saith these things, Do not thou dread, for I again-bought thee, and I called thee by thy name; thou art my servant.
2When thou shalt go by waters, I shall be with thee, and floods shall not cover thee; when thou shalt go in fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and flame shall not burn in thee.
3For I am thy Lord God, the Holy of Israel, thy saviour. I gave thy mercy Egypt; Ethiopia, and Seba, for thee.
4Since thou art made honourable, and glorious in mine eyes; I loved thee, and I shall give men for thee, and peoples for thy soul.
5Do not thou dread, for I am with thee; I shall bring thy seed from the east, and I shall gather thee together from the west.
6I shall say to the north, Give thou, and to the south, Do not thou forbid; bring thou my sons from afar, and my daughters from the last parts of [the] earth.
7And each that calleth my name to help, into my glory I made him of nought; I formed him, and made him.
8Lead thou forth the blind people, and having eyes; the deaf people, and ears be to it.
9All heathen men be gathered together, and lineages be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell this, and shall make you to hear those things, that be the first? give they [the] witnesses of them, and be they justified, and hear they, and say.
10Verily ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants, whom I chose; that ye know, and believe to me, and understand, for I myself am; before me is no God former [or before me is not formed God], and after me shall none be.
11I am, I am the Lord, and without me is no Saviour [or and there is not without me a saviour].
12I told, and saved; I made hearing, and none alien God was among you. Ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord; and I am God,
13from the beginning, I myself am, and none there is that delivereth from mine hand; I shall work, and who shall destroy it?
14The Lord, your again-buyer, the Holy of Israel, saith these things, For you I sent out into Babylon, and I drew down all [the] bars, and [the] Chaldees having glory in their ships.
15I am the Lord, your Holy, your king, making Israel of nought.
16The Lord saith these things, that gave [a] way in the sea, and a path in running waters;
17which led out a cart, and horse, a company, and strong man; they slept together, neither they shall rise again; they be all-broken as flax, and be quenched.
18Think ye not on the former things, and behold ye not old things.
19Lo! I make new things, and now those shall begin to be made; soothly ye shall know them. I shall set [a] way in desert, and floods in a land without a way.
20And a beast of the field shall glorify me, dragons and ostriches shall glorify me; for I gave waters in desert, and floods in the land without a way, that I should give drink to my people, to my chosen people.
21I formed this people to me, it shall tell my praising.
22Jacob, thou calledest not me to help; and thou, Israel, travailedest not for me.
23Thou offeredest not to me the ram of thy burnt sacrifice, and thou glorifiedest not me with thy slain sacrifices. I made not thee to serve in offering, neither I gave to thee travail in incense.
24Thou boughtest not to me sweet smelling spicery for silver, and thou filledest not me with [the] fatness of thy slain sacrifices; nevertheless thou madest me to serve in thy sins, thou gavest travail to me in thy wicked-nesses.
25I am, I myself am, that do away thy wickednesses for me, and I shall not have mind on thy sins.
26Bring me again into mind, and be we deemed together; tell thou, if thou hast anything, that thou be justified.
27Thy first father sinned, and thine interpreters trespassed against me.
28And I made foul holy princes, and I gave Jacob to death, and Israel into blasphemy.
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Isaiah 43: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
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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