Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.
- KJV Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
- NKJV Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;
- NASB “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west.
- NLT “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west.
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 tells His people not to fear, for He is with them and will gather their offspring from east and west. It promises a worldwide regathering grounded in God's presence.
Overview
The repeated 'don't be afraid' rests on the assurance of God's presence. The LORD pledges to bring His scattered people home from every direction. This regathering foreshadows the gospel ingathering of God's people from all nations into one family in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Deut 30:3then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.
- Ezek 39:25–29Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
- Isa 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
- Luke 13:29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
- Isa 60:1–11Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
- Isa 44:2This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Ezek 36:24–27For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land.
- Acts 18:9–10One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.
- Isa 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.
- Jer 30:10–11As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.
- Zech 8:7This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west.
- Jer 31:8–9Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
- Isa 41:14Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isa 27:12–13In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
- Ezek 37:21–28you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land.
- Isa 41:10Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.
- Isa 66:19–20I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
- Ps 106:47Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.
- Ps 22:27–31All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
- Isa 41:8“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- John 10:16I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
- Mic 2:12I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the midst of its pasture—a noisy throng.
- Jer 30:18–19This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will stand in its rightful place.
- Isa 11:11–12On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Ps 107:3and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
- Jer 46:27–28But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.
- 1 Kgs 8:46–51When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
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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 43:5 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
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