Isaiah 43:14-28

New Living Translation

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,
    forcing the Babylonians^[a] to flee in those ships they are so proud of.
¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator and King.
¹⁶ I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
    making a dry path through the sea.
¹⁷ I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
    with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

¹⁸ “But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals in the fields will thank me,
    the jackals and owls, too,
    for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
    so my chosen people can be refreshed.
²¹ I have made Israel for myself,
    and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

²² “But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.
    You have grown tired of me, O Israel!
²³ You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.
    You have not honored me with sacrifices,
though I have not burdened and wearied you
    with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.
²⁴ You have not brought me fragrant calamus
    or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied me with your faults.

²⁵ “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
    and will never think of them again.
²⁶ Let us review the situation together,
    and you can present your case to prove your innocence.
²⁷ From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;
    all your leaders broke my laws.
²⁸ That is why I have disgraced your priests;
    I have decreed complete destruction^[b] for Jacob
    and shame for Israel.