Isaiah 43:11-15

43:11 I, I am the Lord,

and there is no deliverer besides me.

43:12 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.

43:13 From this day forward I am he;

no one can deliver from my power; ¹ 

I will act, and who can prevent it?”

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ²  the Holy One of Israel: ³ 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ⁴ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁵ 

43:15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, ⁶ 

the one who created Israel, your king.”

[43:13]  ¹ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”

[43:14]  ² tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ⁵ 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.

[43:15]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.