Isaiah 46–51

Babylon’s Idols

46Bel bows down;

Nebo is stooping.

Their idols are on^a animals^b and on^c cattle;

your cargo^d is carried as a burden on^e weary animals.

²They stoop;

they bow down together.

They are not able to save the burden,

but^f they themselves go^g in captivity.

³“Listen to me, house of Jacob,

and all the remnant of the house of Israel

who have been carried from the belly,

who have been carried from the womb:

⁴Even^h to your old age I am he;

evenⁱ to your advanced age I myself will support you.

I myself have made you,

and I myself will carry you,

and I myself will support you,

and I will save you.

⁵To whom will you liken me,

and count as equal,

and compare with me,

as though^j we were alike?

⁶Those who lavish gold from the purse

and weigh out silver in the balance scales;

hire a goldsmith^k

and he makes him a god;

they bow down,

indeed they bow in worship.

⁷They carry it on their shoulder;

they support it and they set it in its place,

and it stands in position.

It cannot be removed from its place;

even when he cries out to it, it does not answer.

It does not save him from his trouble.

⁸Remember this and pluck up courage!

Call to mind,^l you transgressors!

⁹Remember the former things from a long time ago,^m

for I am God and there is none besides me,

God and there is none like me,

¹⁰who from the beginning declares the end,

and from before, things that have not been done,

who says, ‘My plan shall stand,’

and, ‘I will accomplishⁿ all my wishes,’^o

¹¹who calls a bird of prey from the east,

the man of his^p plan from a country from afar.

Indeed I have spoken; indeed I will bring it to being.

I have formed it; indeed I will do it.

¹²Listen to me, strong of heart,

far from righteousness!

¹³I bring my righteousness near; it is not far.

And my salvation will not delay;

and I will put^q salvation in Zion,

for Israel my glory.”

Babylon’s Fall

47Come down and sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon!

Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea!

For they shall no longer call^a you tender and delicate.

²Take the pair of mill stones and grind flour!

Uncover your veil,

strip off your skirt,

uncover your thigh,

pass through the rivers!

³Your nakedness shall be exposed;

indeed, your shame shall become visible.

I will take vengeance

and I will not spare^b a person.

⁴Our redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the holy one of Israel.

⁵Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of Chaldea,

for they shall no longer call^c you mistress of kingdoms.

⁶I was angry with my people;

I profaned my inheritance,

and I gave them into your hand.

You did not give^d them mercy;

on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

⁷And you said, “I shall be an eternal mistress forever!”

You did not set these things upon your heart;

you did not remember its end.

⁸Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits^e in security,

who says^f in her heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.

I shall not sit as a widow,

and I shall not know the loss of children.”

⁹And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day:

the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you completely,^g

in spite of your many sorceries,

in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

¹⁰And you felt secure in your wickedness;

you said, “No one^h seesⁱ me.”

Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,

and you said in your heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.”

¹¹And evil shall come upon you, you will not know;

it will be on the lookout for her.

And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to avert^j it.

And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know.

¹²Stand, now, in your enchantments,

and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth.

Perhaps you may be able to benefit;

perhaps you may scare away.^k

¹³You struggle with your many consultations;^l

let them stand, now, and save you—

those who see the stars, divide the celestial sphere,^m

who inform by new moons—

from those things that are coming upon you.

¹⁴Look! They are like stubble;

the fire burns them completely.

They cannot deliver themselvesⁿ from the power^o of the flame;

there is no coal for warming oneself,^p

no fire before which to sit.

¹⁵So are to you those with whom you have labored,

your traders from your youth.

They wander, each to his side;

there is no one who can save you.

Yahweh Refines Stubborn Israel

48Hear this, house of Jacob,

who are called by the name of Israel

and came out from the waters of Judah,

who swear by the name of Yahweh,

and invoke^a the God of Israel,

but not in truth

and not in righteousness.

²For they call themselves after the holy city,^b

and they lean on the God of Israel—

Yahweh of hosts is his name.

³“I declared the former things from of old,^c

and they went out from my mouth.

And I announced^d them suddenly;

I acted,^e and they came to pass,

⁴because I know^f that you are obstinate,

and your neck an iron sinew,

and your forehead bronze.

⁵And I declared them to you from of old;

I announced^g them to you before they came to pass

so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,

and my image and my cast image commanded them.’

⁶You have heard; see it all.

And will you not declare it?

I announce^h new things to you from this time

and hidden things thatⁱ you have not known.

⁷Now they are created, and not from of old,^j

and before today, and you have not heard them

so that you could not say, “Look! I knew them.”

⁸Neither have you heard, nor have you known,

nor from of old^k has your ear been opened.

For I knew you would deal treacherously, very treacherously,

and you are called a rebel from the womb.

⁹For the sake of my name I refrain from^l my anger,

and for my praise I restrain it for you

so as not to cut you off.

¹⁰Look! I have refined you, but^m not likeⁿ silver;

I have chosen you in the furnace of misery.

¹¹For my own sake, for my own sake I do it;

for why should it^o be defiled?

And I will not give my glory to another.”

Yahweh Frees Israel

¹²“Listen to me, Jacob,

and Israel, whom I called:^p

I am he. I am the first;

also I am the last.

¹³Indeed, my hand founded the earth,

and my right hand spread out the heavens;

when I summon^q them, they stand in position together.

¹⁴Assemble, all of you, and hear!

Who among them declared these things?

Yahweh loves him;

he shall perform^r his wish against Babylon

and his arm against the Chaldeans.^s

¹⁵I, I myself, I have spoken!

Indeed, I have called him.

I have brought him,

and he will be successful in his way.

¹⁶Draw near to me; hear this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the beginning;^t

from the time it came to be,^u there I have been;

And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit.”

¹⁷Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel:

“I am Yahweh your God, who teaches^v you to profit,

leads you in the way you should go.

¹⁸O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!

Then^w your prosperity would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹And your offspring would have been like the sand,

and the descendants of your body^x like its grains.^y

It would not be cut off,

and its name would not be destroyed from my presence.”

²⁰Go out from Babylon!

Flee from Chaldea!

Proclaim^z it with a shout^a of rejoicing; proclaim^b this!

Send it forth^c to the end of the earth;

say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

²¹And when he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty;

he made water flow from the rock for them,

and he split the rock,

and the water gushed out.

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

Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation

49Listen to me, coastlands,

and listen attentively, peoples from far away!

Yahweh called me from the womb;

from the body^a of my mother he made my name known.

²And he made^b my mouth like a sharp sword;

he hid me in the shadow of his hand,

and he made^c me like a sharpened arrow;

he hid me in his quiver.

³And he said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will show my glory.”

⁴But^d I myself said, “I have labored in^e vain;

I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity!

Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,

and my reward is with my God.”

⁵And now Yahweh says,

who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,

to bring Jacob back to him,

and that Israel might not^f be gathered,

for^g I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,

and my God has become my strength.

⁶And he says, “It is trivial for you to be^h a servant for me,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

I will give you as a light to the nations,

to be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,

to the one who despisesⁱ life,

to the one who abhors the nation,

to the slave of rulers:

“Kings shall see and stand up;

princes, and they shall bow down,

for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,

the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.”

Yahweh Restores the Afflicted

⁸Thus says Yahweh:

“I have answered you in a time of favor,

and helped you on a day of salvation,

and watched over you,

and given you as a covenant of the people,

to raise up the land,

to give the desolate hereditary property as an inheritance,

⁹saying to the prisoners,^j “Come out!”

to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves!”

they shall feed along^k the ways,

and their pasturage shall be on all the barren heights.

¹⁰They shall not be hungry or thirsty,

and heat and sun shall not strike them,

for he who takes pity on them will lead them,

and he will guide them to springs of water.

¹¹And I will make^l all my mountains like a road,

and my highways shall lead up.^m

¹²Look! These shall come from afar,

And look! These from the north and from the west

and these from the land of Sinim.”

¹³Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth!

Mountains must break forth in rejoicing!

For Yahweh has comforted his people,

and he will take pity on his afflicted ones.

Yahweh Remembers Zion

¹⁴Butⁿ Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

and the Lord has forgotten me!”

¹⁵Can a woman forget her suckling,

refrain from…