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 has bowed down, Nebo is stooping, Their idols have been for the beast and for livestock, Your burdens are loaded, a burden to the weary.
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 have stooped, they have bowed together, They have not been able to deliver the burden, And have gone into captivity themselves.
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.
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of Israel, Who are borne from the belly, Who 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] He, and to grey hairs I carry, I made, and I bear, indeed, I carry and 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 do you liken Me, and make 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!
They are pouring out gold from a bag, And they weigh silver on the beam, They hire a refiner, and he makes it a god, They fall down, indeed, they bow themselves.
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!
They lift him up on the shoulder, They carry him, and cause him to rest in his place, And he stands, he does not move from his place, Indeed, one cries to him, and he does not answer, He does not save him from his adversity.
8 [You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
Remember this, and show yourselves men, Turn [it] back, O transgressors, to the heart.
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 former things of old, For I [am] Mighty, and there is none else, 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 latter end from the beginning, And from of old that which has not been done, Saying, My counsel stands, And all My delight 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 ravenous bird from the east, The man of My counsel from a far land, Indeed, I have spoken, indeed, I bring it in, I have formed [it], indeed, I 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.
Listen to Me, you mighty in heart, Who 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 have brought My righteousness near, It is not far off, And My salvation—it does not linger, And I have given salvation in Zion, For Israel My glory!”
