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 sinketh down; Nebo falleth; Their images are laid upon beasts and cattle; Those that ye once bore are packed upon them; 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 sink down; they fall together; They cannot rescue the burden; They themselves go 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 to me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel; Ye that have been borne by me from your birth, That have been carried by me from your earliest breath!
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 your old age I am the same; Even to hoar hairs I will carry you; I have done it, and I will still bear you; I will carry, and will deliver you.
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 compare me? Yea, to whom will ye 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 lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver in the balance; They hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; They fall down, yea, they worship it.
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 upon the shoulder, and carry him; They set him in his place, and there he standeth; From his place he moveth not; Yea, one may cry to him, yet doth he not answer, Nor save him out of his distress.
8 [You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
Remember these things, and show yourselves men; Lay them to heart, ye apostates!
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 in ancient times! For 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; From ancient times the things that were not yet done; Saying, My purpose shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure;
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 from the East the eagle, The man that executeth my purpose from a far country; I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, 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 to me, ye stubborn-hearted, That are far from deliverance!
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 near my deliverance; it is not far off; My salvation shall not tarry; I will give to Zion salvation, To Israel, my glory.
