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 bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are carried by animals and beasts of burden. These idols that you carry are a heavy burden for weary animals.
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)!
Together they bend low, kneel down; they cannot rescue the images, and they themselves have gone off 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.
Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been carried by me from before your birth, 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 your old age I am he, and until your hair is gray I will carry you. I made you and I will bear you; I will carry you and I will rescue 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 you compare me? Who do you think I resemble, so that we may be compared?
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!
People pour out gold from the bag and weigh silver on the scale. They hire a metalsmith, and he makes it into a god; they bow down and 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 it on their shoulder and carry it; they set it in its place, and it stands in its place and does not move from it. They cry out to it, but it cannot answer nor save anyone from his trouble.
8 [You people of Judah], do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people!
Think about these things; never ignore them, you rebels!
9 Think about the things [that I did] long ago. Only I am God; I am God, and there is no one like me.
Think about the earlier things, those of times past, for I am God, and there is no other, I am God, and there is no one 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.
I announce the end from the beginning, and beforehand what has not yet happened; I say, “My plan will happen, and I will do as I desire.”
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.
I call a bird of prey from the east, the man of my choice from a distant land; yes, I have spoken; I will also accomplish it; 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.
Listen to me, you stubborn people, who are far from doing what is right.
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 am bringing my righteousness near; it is not far away, and my salvation does not wait; and I will give salvation to Zion and my beauty to Israel.
