UST GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

ISA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66

UST ISA Chapter 43

◄ ISA 43 ► ║ ═ ©

43 Yahweh is the one who created the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob.

This is what he now says to them:

“I am rescuing you, so do not be afraid.

I am calling for you Israelites by name. You belong to me.

2 When you experience difficult situations,

as if you were crossing a deep river,

I will help you, so it will be as if you do not drown.

When you experience dangerous situations,

as if you were in an area that was burning,

I will protect you, so it will be as if that fire does not burn you.

3 I will do this because I am Yahweh your God.

I am the holy God of you Israelites. I will save you.

I will allow your captors to have the people of Egypt, Cush, and Seba

instead of you so that you can go free.

4 You are very valuable to me.

I honor you, and I love you personally.

So I will allow your captors to have the people of other nations

instead of you so that you may live.

5 I am helping you, so do not be afraid.

I will gather your descendants from throughout the world

and bring them home.

6 I will command the people of nations throughout the world,

‘Release my people and do not keep any of them as prisoners!

Allow all of them to return from distant places on the earth.

7 Send back all of those people! They belong to me.

I created them, and they show that I am glorious.’

8-9 8-9Suppose it were possible to gather together

the people of all nations for a trial.

Suppose it were possible to bring in the Israelites as witnesses,

even though they do not understand as they should what Yahweh is doing,

and they are not responding to it as they should.

One could then ask the people of the nations,

“Did any of your gods predict what is happening now?

Did any of them predict anything that happened in the past?

If you claim that they did, bring in witnesses to prove this.

Let people listen to them and decide whether your claim is true.”

10 No one would testify on behalf of a foreign god, but Yahweh would declare,

“You Israelites are my witnesses

that I have said what was going to happen and have made it happen.

I chose you to be my servants.

I wanted you to know me and trust me

and understand that I am the only true God.

There was no other god before me,

and there will be no other god after me.

11 I, Yahweh, am the only true God.

I am the only one who can save people.

12 I announced that I was going to save you, and I did save you.

I told you that myself.

No foreign god told you that!

So you can testify for me,” Yahweh would declare,

“that I am God.

13 I have always existed,

and no one can rescue people from my power.

When I act, no one can undo what I have done.”

14 Yahweh is the holy God of you Israelites.

He is the one who rescues you.

He says this to you:

“For your sake, I will have an army attack Babylon.

It will defeat the Babylonians, and they will run away.

They will flee in the ships of which they are so proud.

15 I am Yahweh, your holy God.

I created you Israelites, and I am your true king.”

16-17 16-17Yahweh is the one who made a dry path

through the Sea of Reeds so that the Israelites could cross it.

He then got the Egyptian army with its great soldiers

and chariots and horses to follow them.

But the waters flowed back over them and they all drowned and died.

They were like a lamp whose light went out.

This is what Yahweh now says to you Israelites:

18 “You do not need to remember these things

that happened so long ago.

19 I am about to do something new that is just as great.

I have already begun to do it. You ought to be able to recognize it.

I am actually going to make a path through the desert,

and I will make water flow there.

20 Even wild animals such as jackals and ostriches will thank me

for making this water flow in the desert.

I will do that so that my people, whom I have chosen,

will have water to drink when they walk on that path.

21 I created those people so that they would belong to me.

They will tell why I deserve to have people praise me.

22 However, you descendants of Jacob have not prayed to me.

It appears that you people of Israel have become tired of worshiping me.

23-24 23-24You have not brought me your sheep as burnt offerings,

and you have not offered sacrifices to honor me.

You have not spent money to buy aromatic cane for me,

and you have not made me content with the fat from your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you by requiring grain offerings,

and I have not tired you out by demanding frankincense.

Instead, you have burdened me by the sins you have committed,

and you have wearied me by the wrong things you have done.

25 But for my part, I am the one who forgives your sins

for my own sake.

I will never think about your sins again.

26 If you have any evidence that you did not sin against me,

I am willing to consider it.

Go ahead and try to state your case

if you think you can prove that you did not sin.

27 But you people have been sinning against me from the time of your first ancestor.

Your priests and prophets have continually sinned.

28 That is why I allowed enemies to destroy my temple

and the priests no longer had a special place to do their work.

That is why I allowed enemies to destroy the descendants of Jacob completely.

Now other nations are mocking the people of Israel.”