Discovery BoxIsaiah 43:11-15 
Context43:11 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?”
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.”
1 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”
2 tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
3 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
4 tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
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.
6 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
