Isaiah 46–51

Gods of Babylon

46Bel^h bows down, Nebo stoops low;

their idolsⁱ are borne by beasts of burden.^a

The images that are carried^j about are burdensome,

a burden for the weary.

²They stoop and bow down together;

unable to rescue the burden,

they themselves go off into captivity.^k

³“Listen^l to me, you descendants of Jacob,

all the remnant^m of the people of Israel,

you whom I have upheld since your birth,ⁿ

and have carried^o since you were born.^p

⁴Even to your old age and gray hairs^q

I am he,^r I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain^s you and I will rescue you.

⁵“With whom will you compare me or count me equal?

To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?^t

⁶Some pour out gold from their bags

and weigh out silver on the scales;

they hire a goldsmith^u to make it into a god,

and they bow down and worship it.^v

⁷They lift it to their shoulders and carry^w it;

they set it up in its place, and there it stands.

From that spot it cannot move.^x

Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;^y

it cannot save^z them from their troubles.

⁸“Remember^a this, keep it in mind,

take it to heart, you rebels.^b

⁹Remember the former things,^c those of long ago;^d

I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me.^e

¹⁰I make known the end from the beginning,^f

from ancient times,^g what is still to come.^h

I say, ‘My purpose will stand,ⁱ

and I will do all that I please.’

¹¹From the east I summon^j a bird of prey;^k

from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

what I have planned,^l that I will do.^m

¹²Listenⁿ to me, you stubborn-hearted,^o

you who are now far from my righteousness.^p

¹³I am bringing my righteousness^q near,

it is not far away;

and my salvation^r will not be delayed.

I will grant salvation to Zion,^s

my splendor^t to Israel.

The Fall of Babylon

47“Go down, sit in the dust,^u

Virgin Daughter^v Babylon;

sit on the ground without a throne,

queen city of the Babylonians.^aw

No more will you be called

tender or delicate.^x

²Take millstones^y and grind^z flour;

take off your veil.^a

Lift up your skirts,^b bare your legs,

and wade through the streams.

³Your nakedness^c will be exposed

and your shame^d uncovered.

I will take vengeance;^e

I will spare no one.^f”

⁴Our Redeemer^g—the Lord Almighty^h is his nameⁱ—

is the Holy One^j of Israel.

⁵“Sit in silence,^k go into darkness,^l

queen city of the Babylonians;^m

no more will you be called

queenⁿ of kingdoms.^o

⁶I was angry^p with my people

and desecrated my inheritance;^q

I gave them into your hand,^r

and you showed them no mercy.^s

Even on the aged

you laid a very heavy yoke.

⁷You said, ‘I am forever^t—

the eternal queen!’^u

But you did not consider these things

or reflect^v on what might happen.^w

⁸“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,

lounging in your security^x

and saying to yourself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me.^y

I will never be a widow^z

or suffer the loss of children.’

⁹Both of these will overtake you

in a moment,^a on a single day:

loss of children^b and widowhood.^c

They will come upon you in full measure,

in spite of your many sorceries^d

and all your potent spells.^e

¹⁰You have trusted^f in your wickedness

and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^g

Your wisdom^h and knowledge misleadⁱ you

when you say to yourself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

¹¹Disaster^j will come upon you,

and you will not know how to conjure it away.

A calamity will fall upon you

that you cannot ward off with a ransom;

a catastrophe you cannot foresee

will suddenly^k come upon you.

¹²“Keep on, then, with your magic spells

and with your many sorceries,^l

which you have labored at since childhood.

Perhaps you will succeed,

perhaps you will cause terror.

¹³All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^m

Let your astrologersⁿ come forward,

those stargazers who make predictions month by month,

let them save^o you from what is coming upon you.

¹⁴Surely they are like stubble;^p

the fire^q will burn them up.

They cannot even save themselves

from the power of the flame.^r

These are not coals for warmth;

this is not a fire to sit by.

¹⁵That is all they are to you—

these you have dealt with

and labored^s with since childhood.

All of them go on in their error;

there is not one that can save^t you.

Stubborn Israel

48“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,

you who are called by the name of Israel^u

and come from the line of Judah,^v

you who take oaths^w in the name of the Lord^x

and invoke^y the God of Israel—

but not in truth^z or righteousness—

²you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city^a

and claim to rely^b on the God of Israel—

the Lord Almighty is his name:^c

³I foretold the former things^d long ago,

my mouth announced^e them and I made them known;

then suddenly^f I acted, and they came to pass.

⁴For I knew how stubborn^g you were;

your neck muscles^h were iron,

your foreheadⁱ was bronze.

⁵Therefore I told you these things long ago;

before they happened I announced^j them to you

so that you could not say,

‘My images brought them about;^k

my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’

⁶You have heard these things; look at them all.

Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^l

of hidden things unknown to you.

⁷They are created^m now, and not long ago;ⁿ

you have not heard of them before today.

So you cannot say,

‘Yes, I knew^o of them.’

⁸You have neither heard nor understood;^p

from of old your ears^q have not been open.

Well do I know how treacherous^r you are;

you were called a rebel^s from birth.

⁹For my own name’s sake^t I delay my wrath;^u

for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,

so as not to destroy you completely.^v

¹⁰See, I have refined^w you, though not as silver;

I have tested^x you in the furnace^y of affliction.

¹¹For my own sake,^z for my own sake, I do this.

How can I let myself be defamed?^a

I will not yield my glory to another.^b

Israel Freed

¹²“Listen^c to me, Jacob,

Israel, whom I have called:^d

I am he;^e

I am the first and I am the last.^f

¹³My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,^g

and my right hand spread out the heavens;^h

when I summon them,

they all stand up together.ⁱ

¹⁴“Come together,^j all of you, and listen:

Which of the idols has foretold^k these things?

The Lord’s chosen ally^l

will carry out his purpose^m against Babylon;ⁿ

his arm will be against the Babylonians.^a

¹⁵I, even I, have spoken;

yes, I have called^o him.

I will bring him,

and he will succeed^p in his mission.

¹⁶“Come near^q me and listen^r to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^s

at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^t has sent^u me,

endowed with his Spirit.^v

¹⁷This is what the Lord says—

your Redeemer,^w the Holy One^x of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches^y you what is best for you,

who directs^z you in the way^a you should go.

¹⁸If only you had paid attention^b to my commands,

your peace^c would have been like a river,^d

your well-being^e like the waves of the sea.

¹⁹Your descendants^f would have been like the sand,^g

your children like its numberless grains;^h

their name would never be blotted outⁱ

nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰Leave Babylon,

flee^j from the Babylonians!

Announce this with shouts of joy^k

and proclaim it.

Send it out to the ends of the earth;^l

say, “The Lord has redeemed^m his servant Jacob.”

²¹They did not thirstⁿ when he led them through the deserts;

he made water flow^o for them from the rock;

he split the rock

and water gushed out.^p

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

The Servant of the Lord

49Listen^s to me, you islands;^t

hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was born^u the Lord called^v me;

from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.^w

²He made my mouth^x like a sharpened sword,^y

in the shadow of his hand^z he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow^a

and concealed me in his quiver.

³He said to me, “You are my servant,^b

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^c”

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

I have spent my strength for nothing at all.

Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,^e

and my reward^f is with my God.”^g

⁵And now the Lord says—

he who formed me in the womb^h to be his servant

to bring Jacob back to him

and gather Israelⁱ to himself,

for I am^a honored^j in the eyes of the Lord

and my God has been my strength^k—

⁶he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^l

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^m

I will also make you a lightⁿ for the Gentiles,^o

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^p

⁷This is what the Lord says—

the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^q—

to him who was despised^r and abhorred by the nation,

to the servant of rulers:

“Kings^s will see you and stand up,

princes will see and bow down,^t

because of the Lord, who is faithful,^u

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^v you.”

Restoration of Israel

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor^w I will answer you,

and in the day of salvation I will help you;^x

I will keep^y you and will make you

to be a covenant for the people,^z

to restore the land^a

and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^b

⁹to say to the captives,^c ‘Come out,’

and to those in darkness,^d ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads

and find pasture on every barren hill.^e

¹⁰They will neither hunger nor thirst,^f

nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^g

He who has compassion^h on them will guideⁱ them

and lead them beside springs^j of water.

¹¹I will turn all my mountains into roads,

and my highways^k will be raised up.^l

¹²See, they will come from afar^m—

some from the north, some from the west,ⁿ

some from the region of Aswan.^b”

¹³Shout for joy,^o you heavens;

rejoice, you earth;^p

burst into song, you mountains!^q

For the Lord comforts^r his people

and will have compassion^s on his afflicted ones.^t

¹⁴But Zion^u said, “The Lord has forsaken^v me,

the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child^w she has borne?

Though she may…