Isaiah 46–51

¹Bowed down hath Bel, stooping is Nebo, Their idols have been for the beast and for cattle, Your burdens are loaded, a burden to the weary. ²They have stooped, they have bowed together, They have not been able to deliver the burden, And themselves into captivity have gone. ³Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of Israel, Who are borne from the belly, Who are carried from the womb, ⁴Even to old age I am He, and to grey hairs I carry, I made, and I bear, yea, I carry and deliver.

⁵To whom do ye liken Me, and make equal? And compare Me, that we may be like? ⁶ —They are pouring out gold from a bag, And silver on the beam they weigh, They hire a refiner, and he maketh it a god, They fall down, yea, they bow themselves. ⁷They lift him up on the shoulder, They carry him, and cause him to rest in his place, And he standeth, from his place he moveth not, Yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not, From his adversity he saveth him not. ⁸Remember this, and shew yourselves men, Turn it back, O transgressors, to the heart. ⁹Remember former things of old, For I am Mighty, and there is none else, God—and there is none like Me. ¹⁰Declaring from the beginning the latter end, And from of old that which hath not been done, Saying, ‘My counsel doth stand, And all My delight I do.’ ¹¹Calling from the east a ravenous bird, From a far land the man of My counsel, Yea, I have spoken, yea, I bring it in, I have formed it, yea, I do it. ¹²Hearken unto Me, ye mighty in heart, Who are far from righteousness. ¹³I have brought near My righteousness, It is not far off, And My salvation—it doth not tarry, And I have given in Zion salvation, To Israel My glory!

Chapter 47

¹Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, ‘O tender and delicate one.’ ²Take millstones, and grind flour, Remove thy veil, draw up the skirt, Uncover the leg, pass over the floods. ³Revealed is thy nakedness, yea, seen is thy reproach, Vengeance I take, and I meet not a man. ⁴Our redeemer is Jehovah of Hosts, His name is the Holy One of Israel. ⁵Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, ‘Mistress of kingdoms.’ ⁶I have been wroth against My people, I have polluted Mine inheritance And I give them into thy hand, Thou hast not appointed for them mercies, On the aged thou hast made thy yoke very heavy,

⁷And thou sayest, ‘To the age I am mistress,’ While thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, Thou hast not remembered the latter end of it. ⁸And now, hear this, O luxurious one, Who is sitting confidently—Who is saying in her heart, ‘I am, and none else, I sit not a widow, nor know bereavement.’ ⁹And come in to thee do these two things, In a moment, in one day, childlessness and widowhood, According to their perfection they have come upon thee, In the multitude of thy sorceries, In the exceeding might of thy charms. ¹⁰And thou art confident in thy wickedness, Thou hast said, ‘There is none seeing me,’ Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, It is turning thee back, And thou sayest in thy heart, ‘I am, and none else.’ ¹¹And come in on thee hath evil, Thou knowest not its rising, And fall on thee doth mischief, Thou art not able to pacify it, And come on thee suddenly doth desolation, Thou knowest not. ¹²Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify! ¹³Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, Stand up, I pray thee, and save thee, Let the charmers of the heavens, Those looking on the stars, Those teaching concerning the months, From those things that come on thee! ¹⁴Lo, they have been as stubble! Fire hath burned them, They deliver not themselves from the power of the flame, There is not a coal to warm them, a light to sit before it. ¹⁵So have they been to thee with whom thou hast laboured, Thy merchants from thy youth, Each to his passage they have wandered, Thy saviour is not!

Chapter 48

¹Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And from the waters of Judah came out, Who are swearing by the name of Jehovah, And of the God of Israel make mention, Not in truth nor in righteousness. ²For from the Holy City they have been called, And on the God of Israel been supported, Jehovah of Hosts is His name. ³The former things from that time I declared, And from my mouth they have gone forth, And I proclaim them, Suddenly I have done, and it cometh. ⁴From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass, ⁵And I declare to thee from that time, Before it cometh I have caused thee to hear, Lest thou say, ‘Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image, And my molten image did command them. ⁶Thou hast heard, see the whole of it, And ye, do ye not declare? I have caused thee to hear new things from this time, And things reserved that ye knew not. ⁷Now they have been produced and not from that time, Yea, before the day, and thou hast not heard them, Lest thou say, ‘Lo, I have known them.’ ⁸Yea, thou hast not heard, Yea, thou hast not known, Yea, from that time not opened hath thine ear, For I have known thou dealest treacherously, And ‘Transgressor from the belly,’ One is crying to thee.

⁹For My name’s sake I defer Mine anger, And My praise I restrain for thee, So as not to cut thee off. ¹⁰Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction. ¹¹For My sake, for Mine own sake, I do it, For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not. ¹²Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called one, I am He, I am first, and I am last; ¹³Also, My hand hath founded earth, And My right hand stretched out the heavens, I am calling unto them, they stand together. ¹⁴Be gathered all of you, and hear, Who among them did declare these things? Jehovah hath loved him, He doth His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm is on the Chaldeans. ¹⁵I—I have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him in, And he hath made prosperous his way.

¹⁶Come ye near unto me, hear this, Not from the beginning in secret spake I, From the time of its being, there am I, And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit. ¹⁷Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, ‘I am Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, Causing thee to tread in the way thou goest. ¹⁸O that thou hadst attended to My commands, Then as a river is thy peace, And thy righteousness as billows of the sea, ¹⁹And as sand is thy seed, And the offspring of thy bowels as its gravel, Not cut off nor destroyed his name before Me. ²⁰Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, With a voice of singing declare, Cause ye this to be heard, Bring it forth unto the end of the earth, Say, Redeemed hath Jehovah His servant Jacob. ²¹And they have not thirsted in waste places, He hath caused them to go on, Waters from a rock he hath caused to flow to them, Yea, he cleaveth a rock, and flow do waters. ²²There is no peace, said Jehovah, to the wicked!

Chapter 49

¹Hearken, O isles, unto me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, Jehovah from the womb hath called me, From the bowels of my mother He hath made mention of my name. ²And he maketh my mouth as a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He hath hid me, And He maketh me for a clear arrow, In His quiver He hath hid me. ³And He saith to me, ‘My servant Thou art, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.’ ⁴And I said, ‘For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment is with Jehovah, And my wage with my God. ⁵And now, said Jehovah, who is forming me from the belly for a servant to Him, To bring back Jacob unto Him, (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God hath been my strength.) ⁶And He saith, ‘It hath been a light thing That thou art to Me for a servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel to bring back, And I have given thee for a light of nations, To be My salvation unto the end of the earth.’

⁷Thus said Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the abominated of a nation, To the servant of rulers: ‘Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooseth thee.’ ⁸Thus said Jehovah: ‘In a time of good pleasure I answered thee, And in a day of salvation I helped thee, And I keep thee, and give thee, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances. ⁹To say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. On the ways they feed, And in all high places is their pasture. ¹⁰They do not hunger, nor thirst, Nor smite them doth mirage and sun, For He who is pitying them doth lead them, And by fountains of waters doth tend them. ¹¹And I have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up. ¹²Lo, these from afar come in, And lo, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim.

¹³Sing, O heavens, and joy, O earth, And break forth, O mountains, with singing, For comforted hath Jehovah His people, And His afflicted ones He doth pity. ¹⁴And Zion saith, ‘Jehovah hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me.’ ¹⁵Forget doth a woman her suckling, The loved one—the son of her womb? Yea, these forget—but I—I forget not thee. ¹⁶Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls are before Me continually. ¹⁷Hastened have those building thee, Those destroying thee, and laying thee waste, go out from thee.

¹⁸Lift up round about thine eyes and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to thee. I live, an affirmation of Jehovah! Surely all of them as an ornament thou puttest on, And thou bindest them on like a bride. ¹⁹Because thy wastes, and thy desolate places, And the land of thy ruins, Surely now…