Isaiah 46
1 [It is as though] Bel and Nebo, the statues of the gods [of Babylonia], are bowing down as those statues are put on animals and carried away! The statues are heavy burdens and will cause the animals to become tired [SAR]!
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
2 [It seems like] both gods are bowing down; not only can they not save themselves, but they themselves are being (exiled/taken to another country)!
They stoop, they bow down together, they could not deliver the burden; and themselves are gone into captivity.
3 [Yahweh says], “You descendants of Jacob who were exiled, [I am not like the gods of Babylonia that must be carried]; [instead, it is as though] I have carried you since you first became a nation [MET]. I carried you [even] before you became a nation.
Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that are borne by Me from the birth, that are carried from the womb:
4 I will be your God, and I will carry you for many years, until [it is as though] [MET] your nation is an old man with gray hair. I caused [you to become a nation], and I will sustain you and rescue you.
Even to old age I am the same, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver.
5 There is certainly [RHQ] no one to whom I can be compared. There is [RHQ] no one who is equal to me [DOU].
To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like?
6 [So it is stupid/ridiculous that] some people pour out gold and silver from their bags and weigh it on a scale. [Then] they hire a man who makes things from gold to make an idol from it. [After he makes an idol], they bow down and worship it!
Ye that lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; ye that hire a goldsmith, that he make it a god, to fall down thereto, yea, to worship.
7 They lift it up and carry it on their shoulders. They put it in a [special] place, and it stays there. It cannot move! And when someone prays to it, it does not answer. So [obviously] it cannot rescue anyone from his troubles!
He is borne upon the shoulder, he is carried, and set in his place, and he standeth, from his place he doth not remove; yea, though one cry unto him, he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
8 [You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
Remember this, and stand fast; bring it to mind, O ye transgressors.
9 Think about the things [that I did] long ago. Only I am God; I am God, and there is no one like me.
Remember the former things of old: that I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me;
10 Only I can tell what will happen in the future before it occurs; I tell it long before it happens. I will accomplish everything that I plan to accomplish, and I will do everything that I want to do.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying: 'My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure will I do';
11 So I will summon [someone to come] from the east [like a swift and powerful] eagle; he will come from a distant country. He will accomplish what I want him to. [He is the one who] will do what I have said that I want him to do, what I have planned.
Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed, I will also do it.
12 You stubborn people [of Israel], [you think that] it will be a long time before you are allowed to return to your own country.
Hearken unto Me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 But I will rescue you, and it will not be a long time [before that happens]. I will do it soon. I will rescue Jerusalem and show to you Israeli [people] that I am glorious.”
I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory.
