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Isaiah 43
1But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have 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 , 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 , 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 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 , 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?”
14The LORD, your , 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 .”
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 , and rivers in the desert.
20The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me, because I give water in 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 , 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 , 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 .
27Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.
28Therefore I will profane the princes of ; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult.”
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.