Isaiah 43:3-4

43:3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹  your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba ²  in place of you.

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ³ 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

Isaiah 43:14

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ⁴  the Holy One of Israel: ⁵ 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ⁶ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁷ 

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

[43:3]  ² sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

[43:4]  ³ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[43:14]  ⁴ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ⁷ 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.