Isaiah 46–51

46TH CHAPTER

Babylon’s Idols Will Go into Captivity

¹The god Bel bows down; the god Nebo stoops low. 

Their statues are seated on animals and cattle. 

The gods that you carry are burdens, a load for weary people. 

²These gods stoop low and bow down together. 

They aren’t able to escape with heavy loads. 

They go away into captivity. 

³Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, 

the few people left of the nation of Israel. 

I’ve carried you since your birth. 

I’ve taken care of you from the time you were born. 

⁴Even when you’re old, I’ll take care of you. 

Even when your hair turns gray, I’ll support you. 

I made you and will continue to care for you. 

I’ll support you and save you. 

⁵To whom will you compare me and make me equal? 

To whom will you compare me so that we can be alike? 

⁶People pour gold out of their bags and weigh silver on scales. 

They hire a goldsmith. He makes it into a god. 

They bow down and worship it. 

⁷They lift it on their shoulders and carry it. 

They set the idol in its place, and it stands there. 

It doesn’t move from its place. 

If they cry to it for help, it can’t answer. 

It can’t rescue them from their distress. 

⁸Remember this, and take courage. 

Recall your rebellious acts. 

⁹Remember the first events, 

because I am God, and there is no other. 

I am God, and there’s no one like me. 

¹⁰From the beginning I revealed the end. 

From long ago I told you things that had not yet happened, saying, 

“My plan will stand, and I’ll do everything I intended to do.” 

¹¹I will call a bird of prey from the east. 

I will call someone for my plan from a faraway land. 

I have spoken, and I will bring it about. 

I have planned it, and I will do it. 

¹²Listen to me, you stubborn people who are far from being righteous. 

¹³I’ll bring my righteousness near; it isn’t far away. 

My salvation will not be delayed. 

I’ll provide salvation for Zion 

and bring my glory to Israel. 

47TH CHAPTER

Babylon’s Fall

¹Go, sit in the dirt, 

virgin princess of Babylon! 

Sit on the ground, not on a throne, 

princess of the Babylonians! 

You will no longer be called soft and delicate. 

²Take millstones and grind flour. 

Remove your veil. 

Take off your skirt. 

Uncover your legs, and cross the river. 

³People will see you naked. 

People will see your shame. 

I will take revenge. 

I won’t spare anyone. 

⁴Our defender is the Holy One of Israel. 

His name is the Lord of Armies. 

⁵Go into the dark, and sit in silence, 

princess of the Babylonians! 

You will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms. 

⁶I was angry with my people. 

I dishonored those who belong to me. 

I put them under your control. 

You showed them no mercy. 

You placed a heavy burden on old people. 

⁷You said, “I will always be a queen.” 

You didn’t carefully consider these things 

or keep in mind how they would end. 

⁸Now then, listen to this, you lover of pleasure. 

You live securely and say to yourself, 

“I’m the only one, and there’s no one else. 

I won’t live as a widow. 

I won’t suffer the loss of children.” 

⁹In one day both of these will happen to you instantly: 

the loss of your children and your husband. 

All this will happen to you in spite of 

your evil magic and your many spells. 

¹⁰You feel safe in your wickedness 

and say, “No one can see me.” 

Your wisdom and knowledge have led you astray, 

so you say to yourself, 

“I’m the only one, and there’s no one else.” 

¹¹But evil will happen to you. 

You won’t know how to keep it away. 

Disaster will strike you. 

You won’t be able to stop it. 

Destruction will overtake you suddenly. 

You won’t expect it. 

¹²Keep practicing your spells and your evil magic. 

You have practiced them ever since you were young. 

You may succeed. 

You may cause terror. 

¹³You are worn out by your many plans. 

Let your astrologers and your stargazers, 

who foretell the future month by month, 

come to you, rise up, and save you. 

¹⁴They are like straw. 

Fire burns them. 

They can’t rescue themselves from the flames. 

There are no glowing coals to keep them warm 

and no fire for them to sit by. 

¹⁵This is how it will be for those who have worked with you, 

for those who have been with you ever since you were young. 

They will go their own ways, 

and there will be no one to save you. 

48TH CHAPTER

The Lord Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon

¹Listen to this, descendants of Jacob! 

You are given the name of Israel. 

You are descended from Judah.^a

You take oaths by the name of the Lord. 

You acknowledge the God of Israel, 

but you are not honest or sincere. 

²You call yourselves ⸤citizens⸥ of the holy city. 

You depend on the God of Israel. 

His name is the Lord of Armies. 

³From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen. 

These words came out of my mouth, 

and I made them known. 

Suddenly, I acted, and they happened. 

⁴I know that you are stubborn. 

Like iron, you are hardheaded. 

Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull. 

⁵That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago. 

I told you about them before they happened. 

⸤I did this⸥ so you couldn’t say, 

“My gods have done these things. 

My carved idols and my metal idols 

have commanded them to happen.” 

⁶You’ve heard these words. 

Now look at all this. 

Won’t you admit it? 

From now on I will reveal to you new things, 

hidden things that you do not know. 

⁷They are created now, not in the past. 

You haven’t heard about them before today, 

so you can’t say that you already knew about them. 

⁸You have never heard about them. 

You have never known about them. 

Your ears have never been open to hear them before. 

I know that you’ve acted very treacherously 

and that you have been called a rebel since you were born. 

⁹For my name’s sake I’ll be patient. 

For my glory’s sake I’ll hold my anger back from you, 

rather than destroy you. 

¹⁰I have refined you, 

but not like silver. 

I have tested you in the furnace of suffering. 

¹¹I am doing this for myself, only for myself. 

Why should my name be dishonored? 

I will not give my glory to anyone else. 

¹²Listen to me, Jacob, 

Israel, whom I have called. 

I am the one. 

I am the first and the last. 

¹³My hand laid the foundation of the earth. 

My right hand stretched out the heavens. 

When I call for them, they both stand. 

¹⁴Gather together, all of you, and listen. 

What idol has revealed such things? 

The Lord loves Cyrus. 

He will carry out the Lord’s plan against Babylon. 

He will use his strength against the Babylonians. 

¹⁵I alone have spoken. 

I have called him. 

I will bring him here, and he will succeed. 

¹⁶Come here. Listen to this: 

From the beginning I have spoken nothing in private. 

From the time it took place, I was there. 

Now the Almighty Lord has sent me and his Spirit. 

¹⁷This is what the Lord, your Defender, the Holy One of Israel, says: 

I am the Lord your God. 

I teach you what is best for you. 

I lead you where you should go. 

¹⁸If only you had listened to my commands! 

Your peace would be like a river ⸤that never runs dry⸥. 

Your righteousness would be like waves on the sea. 

¹⁹Your descendants would be like sand. 

Your children would be like its grains. 

Their names would not be cut off or wiped out in my presence. 

²⁰Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians! 

Shout for joy as you tell it and announce it. 

Shout it out to the ends of the earth. 

Say that the Lord has reclaimed his servant Jacob. 

²¹They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts. 

He made water flow from a rock for them. 

He split a rock, and water gushed out. 

²²“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord. 

49TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Salvation to the Nations

¹Listen to me, you islands. 

Pay attention, you people far away. 

Before I was born, the Lord chose me. 

While I was in my mother’s womb, he recorded my name. 

²He made my tongue like a sharp sword 

and hid me in the palm of his hand. 

He made me like a sharpened arrow 

and hid me in his quiver. 

³He said to me, 

“You are my servant Israel. 

I will display my glory through you.” 

⁴But I said, 

“I have worked hard for nothing. 

I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything. 

Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands, 

and my reward is with my God.” 

⁵The Lord formed me in the womb to be his servant 

in order to bring Jacob back to him 

and gather Israel to him. 

(The Lord honors me, 

and my God has become my strength.) 

⁶Now, the Lord says, 

“You are not just my servant 

who restores the tribes of Jacob 

and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved. 

I have also made you a light for the nations 

so that you would save people all over the world.” 

⁷The Lord is the defender of Israel, its Holy One. 

This is what the Lord says to the despised one, to the one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers: 

Kings will see ⸤you⸥ and stand. 

Princes will see ⸤you⸥ and bow. 

The Lord is faithful. 

The Holy One of Israel has chosen you. 

⁸This is what the Lord says: 

In the time of favor I will answer you. 

In the day of salvation I will help you. 

I will protect you. 

I will appoint you as my promise^ato the people. 

You will restore the land. 

You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance. 

⁹You will say to the prisoners, “Come out,” 

and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” 

They will graze along every path, 

and they will find pastures on every bare hill. 

¹⁰They will never be hungry or thirsty, 

nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind strike them. 

The one who has compassion on them will lead them 

and guide them to springs. 

¹¹I will turn all my mountains into roads, 

and my highways will be restored. 

¹²They will come from far away. 

They will come from the north and from the west, 

and they will come from the land of Sinim. 

¹³Sing with joy, you heavens! 

Rejoice, you earth! 

Break into shouts of joy, you mountains! 

The Lord has comforted his people 

and will have compassion on his humble people. 

The Lord Has Not Forgotten Israel

¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me. 

My Lord has forgotten me.” 

¹⁵Can a woman forget her nursing child? 

Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb? 

Although mothers may forget, 

I will not forget you. 

¹⁶I have…