Isaiah 46
New English Translation
The Lord Carries His People
46 Bel[a] kneels down,
Nebo[b] bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts.[c]
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.[d]
2 Together they bend low and kneel down;
they are unable to rescue the images;[e]
they themselves[f] head off into captivity.[g]
3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,[h]
all you who are left from the family of Israel,[i]
you who have been carried from birth,[j]
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.[k]
4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you,[l]
even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.
I made you and I will support you;
I will carry you and rescue you.[m]
5 To whom can you compare and liken me?
Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale[n]
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not[o] move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
8 Remember this, so you can be brave.[p]
Think about it, you rebels![q]
9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity.[r]
Truly I am God, I have no peer;[s]
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand[t] what has not yet occurred;
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire;’
11 who summons an eagle[u] from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed,[v]
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,[w]
you who distance yourselves from doing what is right.[x]
13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near,[y] it does not wait.
I will save Zion;[z]
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.[aa]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 46:1 sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.
- Isaiah 46:1 sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.
- Isaiah 46:1 tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”
- Isaiah 46:1 tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
- Isaiah 46:2 tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.
- Isaiah 46:2 tn Heb “Their soul/life has gone into captivity.
- Isaiah 46:2 sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.
- Isaiah 46:3 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”
- Isaiah 46:3 tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
- Isaiah 46:3 tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”
- Isaiah 46:3 tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
- Isaiah 46:4 tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”
- Isaiah 46:4 sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.
- Isaiah 46:6 tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
- Isaiah 46:7 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
- Isaiah 46:8 tn The meaning of the verb אָשַׁשׁ (ʾashash, which appears here in the Hitpolel stem) is uncertain. BDB 84 s.v. אשׁשׁ relates it to a root meaning “found, establish” in Arabic; HALOT 100 s.v. II אשׁשׁ gives the meaning “pluck up courage.” The imperative with vav (ו) may indicate purpose following the preceding imperative.
- Isaiah 46:8 tn Heb “return [it], rebels, to heart”; NRSV “recall it to mind, you transgressors.”
- Isaiah 46:9 tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”
- Isaiah 46:9 tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 46:10 tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”
- Isaiah 46:11 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
- Isaiah 46:11 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
- Isaiah 46:12 tn Heb “strong of heart [or, mind]”; KJV “stouthearted”; NAB “fainthearted”; NIV “stubborn-hearted.”
- Isaiah 46:12 tn Heb “who are far from righteousness [or perhaps, “deliverance”].”
- Isaiah 46:13 tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).
- Isaiah 46:13 tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”
- Isaiah 46:13 tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”
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