Isaiah 46

False Gods Are Useless

46Bel and Nebo bow down.

Their idols are carried by animals.

The statues are only heavy loads that must be carried;

they only make people tired.

²These gods will all bow down.

They cannot save themselves

but will all be carried away like prisoners.

³“Family of Jacob, listen to me!

All you people from Israel who are still alive, listen!

I have carried you since you were born;

I have taken care of you from your birth.

⁴Even when you are old, I will be the same.

Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you.

I made you and will take care of you.

I will carry you and save you.

⁵“Can you compare me to anyone?

No one is equal to me or like me.

⁶Some people are rich with gold

and weigh their silver on the scales.

They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god.

Then they bow down and worship it.

⁷They put it on their shoulders and carry it.

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

it cannot move from its place.

People may yell at it, but it cannot answer.

It cannot save them from their troubles.

⁸“Remember this, and do not forget it!

Think about these things, you who turn against God.

⁹Remember what happened long ago.

Remember that I am God, and there is no other God.

I am God, and there is no one like me.

¹⁰From the beginning I told you what would happen in the end.

A long time ago I told you things that have not yet happened.

When I plan something, it happens.

What I want to do, I will do.

¹¹I am calling a man from the east to carry out my plan;

he will come like a hawk from a country far away.

I will make what I have said come true;

I will do what I have planned.

¹²Listen to me, you stubborn people,

who are far from what is right.

¹³I will soon do the things that are right.

I will bring salvation soon.

I will save Jerusalem

and bring glory to Israel.”