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 burnt ,

and flame will not scorch you .

³For I am the LORD your God ,

the Holy One of Israel ,

your Saviour .

I have given Egypt as your ransom ,

Ethiopia and Seba in your place .

⁴Since you have been precious and honoured 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 amongst 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 saviour .

¹²I have declared , I have saved , and I have shown ,

and there was no strange god amongst 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 honour 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 honoured 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.”