Isaiah 46
46
Chapter 46
Babylon's false gods have no power
1 Bel bends down to the ground.
Nebo lies down low. #46:1 Bel and Nebo were gods of Babylon.
Their images are heavy loads on the backs of animals.
The animals become tired and weak as they carry them away.
2Those gods fall down and they lie together on the ground!
They have no power to rescue their images.
The gods themselves go as prisoners to a foreign land,
together with their images.
3The Lord says,
‘Listen to me, you family of Jacob.
Yes, listen to me, all you Israelites who are still alive.
I have taken care of you since you first became a nation.
I have carried you since you were born.
4I will continue to take care of you until you are old,
until your hair becomes grey.
I made you who you are,
and I will supply everything that you need.
I will carry you,
and I will save you.
5You know that there is no God like me!
You cannot say about any god,
that he is the same as me.
6Some people make idols for themselves.
They pour out gold coins from their purse.
They weigh silver on their scales.
They pay a worker with special skill to use the silver and the gold
to make a god.
Then they bend down low in front of it,
and they worship it!
7They lift the idol onto their shoulders
and they carry it home.
They put it in its place and it stands there.
It cannot move anywhere else.
If someone calls out to it for help,
it does not answer.
It cannot save anyone from their trouble.
8Remember this, you people who do not obey me.
Think about it carefully.
9Remember all the things that I did a long time ago.
I am God. There is nobody else like me.
There is no other God, except me.
10From the beginning, I say what will happen at the end.
Long ago, I spoke about future things that have not yet happened.
I say this: “My purpose will not change.
I will do everything that I want to do.”
11Now I will call somebody to come from the east.
He will come down quickly,
like an eagle that catches small birds to eat.
He will come from a country that is far away.
He will do for me what I want to do.
Yes, I will surely do what I have decided to do.
I have given the command,
and I will cause it to happen.
12Listen to me, you people who refuse to obey me.
You choose not to do anything that is right.
13But now I am ready to rescue you,
and I will show you what is right.
This will soon happen!
I will save the people in Zion.
I will make Israel great and beautiful.’
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Isaiah 46
46
The Lord Carries His People
1 Bel#sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל. kneels down,
Nebo#sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu. bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts.#tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.#tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
2 Together they bend low and kneel down;
they are unable to rescue the images;#tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.
they themselves#tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”). head off into captivity.#sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.
3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,#tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”
all you who are left from the family of Israel,#tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
you who have been carried from birth,#tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.#tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you,#tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”
even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.
I made you and I will support you;
I will carry you and rescue you.#sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.
5 To whom can you compare and liken me?
Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale#tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not#tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability. move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
8 Remember this, so you can be brave!#tn The meaning of the verb אָשַׁשׁ (’ashash, which appears here in the Hitpolel stem) is uncertain. BDB 84 s.v. אשׁשׁ relates it to a root meaning “found, establish” in Arabic; HALOT 100 s.v. II אשׁשׁ gives the meaning “pluck up courage.” The imperative with vav (ו) may indicate purpose following the preceding imperative.
Think about it, you rebels!#tn Heb “return [it], rebels, to heart”; NRSV “recall it to mind, you transgressors.”
9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity!#tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”
Truly I am God, I have no peer;#tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand#tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.” what has not yet occurred,
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire,’
11 who summons an eagle#tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6). from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed,#tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,#tn Heb “strong of heart [or, mind]”; KJV “stouthearted”; NAB “fainthearted”; NIV “stubborn-hearted.”
you who distance yourself from doing what is right.#tn Heb “who are far from righteousness [or perhaps, “deliverance”].”
13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near,#tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line). it does not wait.
I will save Zion;#tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.”#tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”
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