Isaiæ 46
1 Confractus est Bel, contritus est Nabo: facta sunt simulachra eorum bestiis et iumentis, onera vestra gravi pondere usque ad lassitudinem.
[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]!
2 Contabuerunt, et contrita sunt simul: non potuerunt salvare portantem, et anima eorum in captivitatem ibit.
[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)!
3 Audite me domus Iacob, et omne residuum domus Israel, qui portamini a meo utero, qui gestamini a mea vulva.
[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.
4 Usque ad senectam ego ipse, et usque ad canos ego portabo: ego feci, et ego feram: ego portabo, et salvabo.
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.
5 Cui assimilastis me, et adæquastis, et comparastis me, et fecistis similem?
There is certainly [RHQ] no one to whom I can be compared. There is [RHQ] no one who is equal to me [DOU].
6 Qui confertis aurum de sacculo, et argentum statera ponderatis: conducentes aurificem, ut faciat deum: et procidunt, et adorant.
[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!
7 Portant illum in humeris gestantes, et ponentes in loco suo: et stabit, ac de loco suo non movebitur. sed et cum clamaverint ad eum, non audiet: de tribulatione non salvabit eos.
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!
8 Mementote istud, et confundamini: redite prævaricatores ad cor.
[You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
9 Recordamini prioris sæculi, quoniam ego sum Deus, et non est ultra Deus, nec est similis mei:
Think about the things [that I did] long ago. Only I am God; I am God, and there is no one like me.
10 Annuncians ab exordio novissimum, et ab initio quæ necdum facta sunt, dicens: Consilium meum stabit, et omnis voluntas mea fiet:
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.
11 Vocans ab Oriente avem, et de terra longinqua virum voluntatis meæ. et locutus sum, et adducam illud: creavi, et faciam illud.
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.
12 Audite me duro corde, qui longe estis a iustitia.
You stubborn people [of Israel], [you think that] it will be a long time before you are allowed to return to your own country.
13 Prope feci iustitiam meam, non elongabitur, et salus mea non morabitur. Dabo in Sion salutem, et in Israel gloriam meam.
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.”
