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Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
Isaiah 43:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes, since the day was I am he; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?”
  • KJV Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
  • NKJV Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”
  • NASB “Even from eternity I am He, And there is no one who can rescue from My hand; I act, and who can reverse it?”
  • NLT “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

From eternity God is who He is, and no one can deliver from His hand or undo His work. It proclaims God's eternal sovereignty and unstoppable purpose.

Overview

God's existence and power are not bound by time; He is the unchanging 'I am he.' No power can rescue from His judgment or thwart His saving will. This sovereign assurance comforts His people and finds its echo in Christ, from whose hand no one can snatch His own.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Isa 14:27The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
  • Isa 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
  • Ps 90:2Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
  • Heb 13:8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
  • John 8:58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
  • 1 Tim 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
  • Job 9:12If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
  • Deut 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
  • Rev 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
  • Isa 41:4Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
  • Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
  • Ps 93:2Your throne was established long ago; You are from all eternity.
  • Ps 50:22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
  • Mic 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
  • Prov 8:23From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began.
  • Hab 1:12Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.
  • Job 34:29But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,
  • Eph 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
  • Deut 28:31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.
  • Prov 21:30There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
  • Job 34:14–15If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,
  • Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
  • John 1:1–2In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  • Rom 9:18–19Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
  • Hos 5:14For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.
  • Hos 2:10And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 43:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 43:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.