Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters says:
- BSB Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,
- NKJV Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters,
- NASB This is what the Lord says, He who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters,
- NLT I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.
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
God is described as the one who makes a way through the sea and a path through mighty waters. It recalls the Exodus to assure His people of a new deliverance.
Overview
The language deliberately evokes the parting of the Red Sea, God's signature act of salvation. By recalling the past, God prepares His people to trust Him for what He will do next. This new exodus motif points forward to the ultimate deliverance from sin and death accomplished in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 77:19Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
- Isa 43:2When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- Isa 51:10Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
- Jer 31:35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
- Isa 51:15But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.
- Isa 63:11–13Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
- Ps 78:13He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
- Neh 9:11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
- Ps 106:9He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
- Rev 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
- Exod 14:29But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
- Isa 11:15–16And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
- Ps 74:13–14Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
- Ps 114:3–5The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
- Ps 136:13–15To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
- Exod 14:21–22And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Josh 3:13–16And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
- Exod 14:16But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
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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 43:16 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.