Isaiah 43:6

Israel and the nations

⁴ Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.

⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

⁷ everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”

⁸ Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—
KJV: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
WEB: I 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—
ASV: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;
DARBY: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth,
BLB: I will say to the north, ‘Give! And to the south, ‘Restrain!’ Do not bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

ÅB: Jeg vil si til Norden: Gi dem hit, og til Syden: Hold dem ikke tilbake, la mine sønner komme fra det fjerne og mine døtre fra jordens ende,
OTB: Jeg vil befale nord å slippe dem, og sør å ikke holde dem tilbake. Samle mine sønner fra fjerne land og mine døtre fra jordens ytterste hjørner—
B1930: Jeg vil si til Norden: Gi dem hit, og til Syden: Hold dem ikke tilbake, la mine sønner komme fra det fjerne og mine døtre fra jordens ende,

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Corinthians 6:17–18
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
Read in context
Jeremiah 3:14
“Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
Read in context
Jeremiah 3:18–19
In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.
Read in context
Hosea 1:10–11
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Read in context
Romans 9:7–8
Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
Read in context
Galatians 3:26–29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Read in context
Psalms 107:3
and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Read in context
Isaiah 18:7
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts— from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.
Read in context