Isaiah 46–51

There is No One Like God

46Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. ^h

Their idols are consigned to beasts and cattle.

The images you carry are loaded,

as a burden for the weary animal.

²The gods cower; they crouch together;

they are not able to rescue the burden,

but they themselves go into captivity. ⁱ

³“Listen to Me, house of Jacob,

all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been sustained from the womb,

carried along since birth.

⁴I will be the same until your old age, ^j

and I will bear you up when you turn gray.

I have made you, and I will carry you;

I will bear and save you.

⁵“Who will you compare Me or make Me equal to?

Who will you measure Me with,

so that we should be like each other? ^k

⁶Those who pour out their bags of gold

and weigh out silver on scales—

they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.

Then they kneel and bow down to it. ^l

⁷They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along; ^m

they set it in its place, and there it stands;

it does not budge from its place. ⁿ

They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;

it saves no one from his trouble.

⁸“Remember this and be brave; ^o

take it to heart, you transgressors!

⁹Remember what happened long ago, ^p

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and no one is like Me.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning,

and from long ago what is not yet done,

saying: My plan will take place,

and I will do all My will. ^q

¹¹I call a bird of prey ^rfrom the east, ^s

a man for My purpose from a far country.

Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. ^t

I have planned it; I will also do it.

¹²Listen to me, you hardhearted,

far removed from justice:

¹³I am bringing My justice near; ^u

it is not far away,

and My salvation will not delay.

I will put salvation in Zion,

My splendor in Israel.

The Fall of Babylon

47“Go down and sit in the dust, ^v

Virgin Daughter Babylon. ^w

Sit on the ground without a throne,

Daughter Chaldea!

For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.

²Take millstones and grind meal; ^x

remove your veil,

strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,

wade through the streams.

³Your nakedness will be uncovered,

and your shame will be exposed. ^y

I will take vengeance;

I will spare no one. ^z

⁴The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer; ^a

Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

⁵“Daughter Chaldea,

sit in silence ^band go into darkness.

For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.

⁶I was angry with My people;

I profaned My possession,

and I placed them under your control.

You showed them no mercy;

you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.

⁷You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’

You did not take these things to heart

or think about their outcome.

⁸“So now hear this, lover of luxury,

who sits securely, ^c

who says to herself,

‘I exist, and there is no one else.

I will never be a widow

or know the loss of children.’ ^d

⁹These two things will happen to you

suddenly, in one day:

loss of children and widowhood.

They will happen to you in their entirety,

in spite of your many sorceries ^e

and the potency of your spells.

¹⁰You were secure in your wickedness;

you said, ‘No one sees me.’ ^f

Your wisdom and knowledge

led you astray.

You said to yourself,

‘I exist, and there is no one else.’

¹¹But disaster will happen to you;

you will not know how to avert it.

And it will fall on you,

but you will be unable to ward it off. ^g

Devastation will happen to you suddenly

and unexpectedly. ^h

¹²So take your stand with your spells

and your many sorceries,

which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.

Perhaps you will be able to succeed;

perhaps you will inspire terror!

¹³You are worn out with your many consultations.

So let them stand and save you—

the astrologers, ⁱwho observe the stars, ^j

who predict monthly

what will happen to you.

¹⁴Look, they are like stubble; ^k

fire burns them up. ^l

They cannot deliver themselves

from the power ^mof the flame.

This is not a coal for warming themselves,

or a fire to sit beside!

¹⁵This is what they are to you—

those who have wearied you

and have traded with you from your youth—

each wanders on his own way;

no one can save you.

Israel Must Leave Babylon

48“Listen to this, house of Jacob—

those who are called by the name Israel

and have descended from ⁿJudah, ^o

who swear by the name of Yahweh ^p

and declare the God of Israel,

but not in truth or righteousness.

²For they are named after the Holy City,

and lean on the God of Israel; ^q

His name is Yahweh of Hosts.

³I declared the past events long ago;

they came out of My mouth; I proclaimed them.

Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.

⁴Because I know that you are stubborn,

and your neck is iron ^r

and your forehead bronze, ^s

⁵therefore I declared to you long ago.

I announced it to you before it occurred,

so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;

my carved image and cast idol control them.’ ^t

⁶You have heard it. Observe it all.

Will you not acknowledge it?

From now on I will announce new things to you,

hidden things that you have not known. ^u

⁷They have been created now, and not long ago;

you have not heard of them before today,

so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’

⁸You have never heard; you have never known;

For a long time your ears have not been open.

For I knew that you were very treacherous,

and were known as a rebel from birth. ^v

⁹I will delay My anger for the honor of My name,

and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and for My praise,

so that you will not be destroyed.

¹⁰Look, I have refined you, ^wbut not as silver;

I have tested ^xyou in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹I will act for My own sake, indeed, My own, ^y

for how can I ^zbe defiled?

I will not give My glory to another. ^a

¹²“Listen to Me, Jacob,

and Israel, the one called by Me:

I am He; I am the first,

I am also the last. ^b

¹³My own hand founded the earth,

and My right hand spread out the heavens; ^c

when I summoned them,

they stood up together.

¹⁴All of you, assemble and listen!

Who among the idols ^dhas declared these things?

The Lord loves him; ^e

he will accomplish His will against Babylon, ^f

and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

¹⁵I—I have spoken;

yes, I have called him; ^g

I have brought him,

and he will succeed in his mission. ^h

¹⁶Approach Me and listen to this.

From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; ⁱ

from the time anything existed, I was there.”

And now the Lord God

has sent me and His Spirit. ^j

¹⁷This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, ^kthe Holy One of Israel ^lsays:

I am Yahweh your God,

who teaches you for your benefit,

who leads you in the way you should go.

¹⁸If only you had paid attention to My commands.

Then your peace would have been like a river, ^m

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. ⁿ

¹⁹Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, ^o

and the offspring of your body like its grains;

their name would not be cut off

or eliminated from My presence.

²⁰Leave Babylon,

flee from the Chaldeans!

Declare with a shout of joy,

proclaim this,

let it go out to the end of the earth;

announce,

“The Lord has redeemed His servant ^pJacob!”

²¹They did not thirst

when He led them through the deserts;

He made water flow for them from the rock; ^q

He split the rock, and water gushed out.

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

The Servant Brings Salvation

49Coastlands, ^slisten to me;

distant peoples, pay attention.

The Lord called ^tme before I was born.

He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. ^u

²He made my words like a sharp sword; ^v

He hid me in the shadow of His hand. ^w

He made me like a sharpened arrow;

He hid me in His quiver.

³He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; ^x

I will be glorified in him.”

⁴But I myself said: I have labored in vain,

I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;

yet my vindication is with the Lord,

and my reward is with my God.

⁵And now, says the Lord,

who formed me from the womb to be His Servant,

to bring Jacob back to Him

so that Israel might be gathered to Him;

for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

and my God is my strength—

⁶He says,

“It is not enough for you to be My Servant

raising up the tribes of Jacob

and restoring the protected ones of Israel.

I will also make you a light for the nations, ^y

to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” ^z

⁷This is what the Lord,

the Redeemer ^aof Israel, his Holy One, says

to one who is despised,

to one abhorred by people, ^bc

to a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and stand up,

and princes ^dwill bow down,

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel ^e—and He has chosen you.” ^f

⁸This is what the Lord says:

I will answer you in a time of favor,

and I will help you in the day of salvation. ^g

I will keep you, and I will appoint you

to be a covenant for the people, ^h

to restore the land,

to make them possess the desolate inheritances,

⁹saying to the prisoners: Come out, ⁱ

and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.

They will feed along the pathways,

and their pastures will be on all the barren heights. ^j

¹⁰They will not hunger or thirst,

the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;

for their compassionate One will guide them,

and lead them to springs of water. ^k

¹¹I will make all My mountains into a road,

and My highways will be raised up. ^l

¹²See, these will come from far away,

from the north and from the west, ^mn

and from the land of Sinim. ^op

¹³Shout for joy, you heavens! ^q

Earth, rejoice!

Mountains break into joyful shouts!

For the Lord has comforted His people, ^r

and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. ^s

Zion Remembered

¹⁴Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;

The Lord has forgotten me!”

¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the child of her womb?

Even if these forget,

yet I will not forget you.

¹⁶Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; ^t

your walls are continually before Me.

¹⁷Your builders ^uhurry;

those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.

¹⁸Look up, and look around.

They all gather together; they come to you. ^v

As I live”—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“you will wear all your children ^was jewelry,

and put them…