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, hath crouched, Nebo, is cowering, Their images, are delivered up to beast and to cattle, —The things ye carried about, are become a load, 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 cowered they have crouched at once, And they cannot rescue the burden, —But their own soul, into captivity, hath departed.
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, Even all the remnant of the house of Israel, —Who have been borne from birth, Who have been carried from nativity:
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 unto old age, I, am, the same, And unto grey hairs, I, will bear the burden, —I have made and, I, will carry, Yea, I, will bear the burden 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 can ye liken me or make me equal? Or compare me, and we 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 who pour gold out of a purse, And who weigh silver in a balance, —Who hire a goldsmith that he may make it into a GOD, They adore, yea they bow down;
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 carry him about on the shoulder They bear the burden of him—and set him in his place that he may stand, —Out of his place, will he not move, —Though one even make outcry unto him, he will not answer, Out of one’s trouble, he will not save him.
8 [You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
Remember ye this and shew yourselves men, —Bring it back, ye transgressors, to your minds;
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 ye the things named in advance from age-past times, —For, I, am, The Mighty One, and there is none else, The Adorable 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 from the beginning, the latter end, And from olden time, that which had never been done, —Saying My purpose shall stand, and All my pleasure, will I perform;
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, a Bird of Prey, From a far country, the Man I intended, —Yea I have spoken I will also bring it to pass, I have planned, 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 valiant of heart, —Who are far away 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 near my righteousness. It shall not be far away, And my deliverance, shall not linger, —But I will give In Zion, deliverance, To Israel, my glory.
