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Isaiah 43

YHWH claims Israel as his own, promises deliverance, and confronts the sins of the people formed for his praise.

YHWH addresses Jacob and Israel as the people he created and redeemed, promising his presence through danger and the return of their scattered children. He summons the nations to a hearing and names Israel as his witnesses that he alone is God and Savior. Deliverance from Babylon is promised through images of a path through water and provision in the desert. The closing words confront Israel’s sins, announce God’s forgiveness, and declare judgment.

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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?”
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.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 43:1God’s command against fear rests on his claim upon Israel as the people he created, redeemed, and called by name.
Isaiah 43:25Amid accusations of Israel’s sin, God locates the ground of forgiveness in his own purpose and character.
Isaiah 43:2The images of water and fire place God’s promised presence within the dangers his people must pass through.
Where this chapter reaches

Deuteronomy and Jeremiah share Isaiah 43’s promise that God will gather his scattered people, while Psalm shares its language of passing through water and fire. Hebrews and Micah share its assurance that God forgives sin and will no longer remember it against his people.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Israel’s calling to be God’s witnesses connect with what God says he has done?

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What do you notice about forgiveness appearing between God’s accusations and his closing declaration of judgment?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 43

What does Isaiah 43:2 mean about waters and fire?

Waters and fire portray dangers through which God promises to preserve Israel. The surrounding verses address the people he redeemed and promises to gather from distant places. The language assures Israel of his presence through peril; it does not establish a blanket promise that every believer will escape injury or death.

What is the new thing in Isaiah 43:19?

In context, the new thing is God’s promised deliverance of his people, with Babylon named in verse 14. After recalling a path through the sea and the defeat of an army, God describes a way through wilderness and water in the desert. These images portray fresh rescue and provision for his chosen people.

Why does Isaiah 43 end with judgment after promising forgiveness?

Verse 25 grounds forgiveness in God’s own sake. The surrounding verses still charge Israel with neglect and sin, then summon the people to present their case. The final judgment shows the gravity of those charges. The chapter holds God’s freedom to forgive alongside his right to judge his people’s rebellion.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).