Isaiah 45:16-46:13

New American Standard Bible

¹⁶They will be ^(A)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The ^(B)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
¹⁷Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an ^(C)everlasting salvation;
You ^(D)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says, He who ^(E)created the heavens (He is the God who ^(F)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ^[a]as a ^(G)waste place, but formed it to be ^(H)inhabited):

“I am the Lord, and ^(I)there is no one else.
¹⁹^(J)I have not spoken in secret,
In ^[b]some dark land;
I did not say to the ^[c]^(K)offspring of Jacob,
‘^(L)Seek Me in ^[d]a wasteland’;
I, the Lord, ^(M)speak righteousness,
^(N)Declaring things that are right.

²⁰“^(O)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
^(P)They have no knowledge,
Who ^(Q)carry around ^[e]their wooden idol
And ^(R)pray to a god who cannot save.
²¹^(S)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
^(T)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is ^(U)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a ^(V)Savior;
There is none except Me.
²²^(W)Turn to Me and ^(X)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(Y)I have sworn by Myself;
The ^(Z)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me ^(AA)every knee will bow, every tongue will ^(AB)swear allegiance.
²⁴They will say of Me, ‘Only ^(AC)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And ^(AD)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be ^(AE)justified and will ^(AF)boast.”

Babylon’s Idols and the True God

46 ^(AG)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things ^[f]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary animal.
²They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But ^[g]have themselves ^(AH)gone into captivity.

³“^(AI)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all ^(AJ)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been ^(AK)carried by Me from ^[h]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
⁴Even to your old age ^(AL)I ^[i]will be the same,
And even to your ^[j]^(AM)graying years I will ^[k]carry you!
I have ^[l]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will ^[m]carry you and I will save you.

⁵“^(AN)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal, and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
⁶Those who ^(AO)lavish gold from the bag
And weigh silver on the scale,
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They ^(AP)bow down, indeed they worship it.
⁷They ^(AQ)lift it on the shoulder, carry it,
And set it in its place, and it stands there.
^(AR)It does not move from its place.
Though one may shout to it, it ^(AS)cannot answer;
It ^(AT)cannot save him from his distress.

⁸“^(AU)Remember this, and be ^[n]assured;
^(AV)Recall it to ^[o]mind, you ^(AW)wrongdoers.
⁹Remember the ^(AX)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is ^(AY)no other;
I am God, and there is ^(AZ)no one like Me,
¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘^(BA)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
¹¹Calling a ^(BB)bird of prey from the ^(BC)east,
The man of ^[p]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have ^(BD)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.

¹²“^(BE)Listen to Me, you ^(BF)stubborn-minded,
Who are ^(BG)far from righteousness.
¹³I ^(BH)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant ^(BI)salvation in Zion,
And My ^(BJ)glory for Israel.