Isaiah 46-48
Complete Jewish Bible
46 Bel bows down, N’vo stoops low;
their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden.
The loads you yourselves were carrying
are now burdening tired animals.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.
3 “Listen to me, house of Ya‘akov,
all who remain of the house of Isra’el:
I have borne you from birth,
carried you since the womb.
4 Till your old age I will be the same —
I will carry you until your hair is white.
I have made you, and I will bear you;
yes, I will carry and save you.
5 To whom will you liken me and equate me?
With whom will you compare me, as if we were similar?”
6 They squander the gold from their bags
and weigh silver on a scale;
they hire a goldsmith to make a god,
before which they fall down and worship!
7 It is borne on shoulders and carried,
then set in its place; and there it stands.
From its place it does not move.
If one cries to it, it cannot answer
or save anyone from his troubles.
8 Remember this, and stand firm.
Keep it in mind, you rebels.
9 “Remember things that happened
at the beginning, long ago —
that I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 At the beginning I announce the end,
proclaim in advance things not yet done;
and I say that my plan will hold,
I will do everything I please to do.
11 I call a bird of prey from the east,
the man I intended, from a distant country.
I have spoken and will bring it about;
I have made a plan, and I will fulfill it.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,
so far from righteousness:
13 I am bringing my justice nearer,
it is not far away;
my salvation will not be delayed,
I will place my salvation in Tziyon
for Isra’el my glory.
47 “Come down, and sit in the dust,
you virgin daughter of Bavel!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
daughter of the Kasdim!
No longer are you to be called
dainty and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal;
take off your veil, strip off your skirt,
uncover your legs, wade through the streams.
3 Your private parts will be exposed;
yes, your shame will be seen.
I am going to take vengeance,
and no one will stand in my way.”
4 Our Redeemer! Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name,
the Holy One of Isra’el!
5 “Sit there speechless, go into darkness,
you daughter of the Kasdim!
For you will no longer be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people,
I desecrated my own possession
and gave them over to you.
But you showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy,
even upon the aged.
7 You said, ‘I will be mistress forever.’
so you didn’t consider these things
or think about the consequences.
8 Now hear this, you lover of luxuries,
lolling at ease and saying to yourself,
‘I am important, and no one else!
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
9 But both will come over you in an instant,
in a single day loss of children and widowhood;
they will utterly overwhelm you,
despite your many occult practices
and powerful spells to prevent it.”
10 You were at ease in your wickedness,
you thought, “No one sees me.”
Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” perverted you,
as you thought to yourself,
“I am important, and no one else.”
11 Yet disaster will befall you,
and you won’t know how to charm it away;
calamity will come upon you,
and you won’t be able to turn it aside;
ruin will overcome you,
suddenly, before you know it.
12 So for now, keep on with your powerful spells
and your many occult practices;
from childhood you have been working at them;
maybe they will do you some good,
maybe you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with all your consultations —
so let the astrologers and stargazers,
the monthly horoscope-makers,
come forward now and save you
from the things that will come upon you!
14 Look, they will be like straw!
The fire will consume them.
They will not save even themselves
from the power of the flame.
It will not be coals for warming oneself,
not a fire to sit beside!
15 So much for your [wizards],
with whom you have worked all your life!
Each will wander off in his own direction,
and nobody will save you.
48 Listen to this, house of Ya‘akov,
called by the name of Isra’el,
who have come from the spring of Y’hudah,
who swear by the name of Adonai
and invoke the God of Isra’el! —
it is not sincerely or justifiably
2 that they call themselves people of the holy city
or rely on the God of Isra’el —
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name:
3 “I announced things that happened at the beginning, long ago;
they issued from my mouth, I proclaimed them.
Then suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4 Because I knew that you were stubborn,
your neck an iron sinew, your forehead bronze,
5 I announced it to you long ago;
before it occurred, I proclaimed it to you;
so that you could not say, ‘My idol did it;
my carved image, my statue, gave the order for it.’
6 You have heard and seen all this,
so why won’t you admit it?
“Now I am announcing new things to you,
secret things you have not known,
7 created now, not long ago;
before today, you did not hear them:
so you can’t say, ‘I already know about them.’
8 No, you haven’t heard, and you haven’t known;
these things have not reached your ears before.
For I knew how treacherous you were —
you were called a rebel from the womb.
9 Yet for the sake of my own reputation
I am deferring my anger;
for the sake of my praise I am patient with you,
so as not to cut you off.
10 “Look, I have refined you,
but not [as severely] as silver;
[rather] I have tested you
in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my sake I will do it,
for my own sake.
I will not let [my reputation] be tarnished;
I will not yield my glory to anyone else.
12 “Listen to me, Ya‘akov;
Isra’el, whom I have called:
I am he who is first;
I am also the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
at once they rose into being.
14 “All of you, assemble and listen:
which of you has foretold what is coming?
Adonai’s friend will do his will against Bavel,
using his arm against the Kasdim.
15 It is I who have spoken,
I have summoned him,
I have brought him,
and he will succeed.
16 “Come close to me, and listen to this:
since the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
since the time things began to be, I have been there;
and now Adonai Elohim has sent me and his Spirit.”
17 Thus says Adonai, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Isra’el:
“I am Adonai, your God,
who teaches you for your own good,
who guides you on the path you should take.
18 If only you would heed my mitzvot!
Then your peace would flow on like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would be numerous as the sand,
your offspring countless as its grains.
Their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from my presence.”
20 Get out of Bavel! Flee the Kasdim!
With shouts of joy announce it, proclaim it!
Send the news out to the ends of the earth!
Say, “Adonai has redeemed his servant Ya‘akov.”
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts,
he made water flow from the rock for them —
he split the rock, and out gushed the water.
22 But there is no peace, says Adonai, for the wicked.
Yeshayah 46-48
Orthodox Jewish Bible
46 Bel boweth down, Nevo stoopeth low, their atzabim (idols) were upon the beasts, and upon the behemah; your litters were heavy laden; they are a massa (burden) to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they [Bel and Nevo, g-ds of Babylon] could not save the massa (burden), but their own selves are gone into shevi (captivity, Golus).
3 Pay heed unto Me, O Bais Ya’akov, and kol She’erit Bais Yisroel, who are borne by Me from birth, who are carried from the rechem (womb);
4 And even to your ziknah (old age) I am He; and even to [your] gray hair will I carry you; I have made, and I will carry; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 Lemi (to whom) will ye compare Me, and make Me equal, and liken Me, that we may be comparable?
6 They lavish zahav out of the bag, and weigh kesef on the scale, and hire a tzoref (goldsmith); and he maketh it El (G-d); they fall down, yes, they bow down in worship.
7 They bear him upon the katef (shoulder), they carry him, and set him up in his place, and he standeth; from his makom shall he not move; yes, though one shall cry out unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his tzoros.
8 Remember this, and stand firm; bring it again to lev (heart, mind), O ye poshe’im (rebelling, transgressing ones).
9 Remember the rishonot (former things) me’olam (of old); for I am El (G-d), and there is not another [G-d]; Elohim, and there is none like Me.
10 Making known acharim (end-times things) from reshit (the beginning), and mikedem (from ancient times) the things that have not yet happened, saying, My etza (counsel, purpose, plan) shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the mizrach (east), the ish that executeth My etza (counsel, purpose, plan) from a far country; yes, I have spoken it, I will indeed bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Pay heed unto Me, ye abirei lev (stubborn of heart), that are far from tzedakah;
13 I bring near My tzedakah; it shall not be far off, and My Teshuah (Salvation) shall not tarry; and I will place Teshuah in Tziyon for Yisroel Tife’arti (My Glory).
47 Go down, and sit in the aphar, O Betulat Bat Bavel, sit on the ground; there is no kisse, O Bat Kasdim (Chaldeans); for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy tzammah (hair, tresses) lift up thy shohvel (train, skirt), bare the thigh, pass over the neharot.
3 Thy ervat (nakedness) shall be exposed, yes, thy cherpah (shame, reproach) shall be seen; I will take nakam (vengeance) and I will not be as adam when I meet thee.
4 Go’aleinu, Hashem Tzva’os Shmo, Kadosh Yisroel.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into choshech, O Bat Kasdim (Chaldeans); for thou shalt no more be called, Geveret Mamlachot (The Lady of Kingdoms).
6 I was angry with My people, I have profaned Mine nachalah, and given them into thine yad; thou didst show them no rachamim (mercy); upon the zaken (ancient, old) hast thou very heavily laid thy ol (yoke).
7 And thou saidst, I shall be a Geveret ad l’olahm (Lady forever): so that thou didst not lay these things to thy lev, neither didst remember her [Babylon’s] acharit (latter end, i.e. future destruction).
8 Therefore hear now this, O adinah (voluptuous, wanton one) that dwellest lavetach (carelessly, in security), that sayest in her lev, I am, and none else besides me; I shall not live as an almanah, neither shall I know shechol (the loss of children, bereavement);
9 But these two things shall overtake thee in a rega (moment), in yom echad, shechol (the loss of children), and almon (widowhood); they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy kashefanut (sorceries, witchcraft) and for the otzmah (great abundance) of thine khavarim (spells, magic, enchantments).
10 For thou hast trusted in thy ra’ah (wickedness); thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy chochmah and thy da’as, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine lev, I am, and none else beside me.
11 Therefore shall ra’ah come upon thee; thou shalt not know its shachar (dawn, from whence it riseth); and tragedy will befall thee; thou shalt not be able to make kofer (ransom) to ward it off; and sho’ah (catastrophe) shall come upon thee pitom (suddenly), which thou shalt not foresee or know.
12 Stand now with thine khavarim (spells, magic, enchantments), and with the multitude of thy kashefanut (sorceries, witchcraft) wherein thou hast toiled from thy neurim; perhaps thou shalt be able to succeed, perhaps thou mayest cause terror.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy etzot (counsels). Let now stand up the hovrev Shomayim (the dissectors of the heavens, astrologers), the chozim bakochavim (stargazers), the ones that predict the future by Rosh Chodesh, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Hinei, they shall be as kash (stubble, straw); the eish shall burn them; they shall not save their nefesh from the power of the flame; there shall not be a hot coal to warm them, nor eish to sit before.
15 Thus unto thee are they with whom thou hast toiled, who have been thy socharim (traffickers, i.e., religious practitioners) from thy neurim (youth); they shall wander about in their random exits; none shall act as Moshi’a to thee.
48 Hear ye this, O Bais Ya’akov, which are called b’shem Yisroel, and are come forth out of the waters of Yehudah, which take oaths b’Shem Hashem, and invoke Elohei Yisroel, but not in emes, nor in tzedakah.
2 For they call themselves of the Ir HaKodesh, and lean themselves upon Elohei Yisroel; Hashem Tzva’os Shmo.
3 I have declared the rishonot (former things) from long ago; and they went forth out of My mouth, and I made them known; I acted pitom (suddenly), and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that thou art kesheh (obstinate, stubborn) and thy oref (neck) is sinew of barzel (iron), and thy metzach (brow, forehead) bronze;
5 I have even from long ago preached it to thee; before it came to pass I caused thee to hear it; lest thou shouldest say, Mine atzav (idol) hath done them, and my pesel, and my nesech (molten idol, metal image) hath commanded them.
6 Thou hast heard, look at all this; and will not ye preach it? I have caused thee to hear chadashot (new things) from this time, even netzurot (hidden things) and thou didst not know them.
7 Now they are created, and not from long ago; before today thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Hinei, I knew them.
8 Thou heardest not; thou had no da’as; from of old, thine ozen (ear) was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest deal as a boged (treacherous betrayer), and thou wast called a poshei’a (rebel, transgressor) from the beten (womb, i.e., birth; See Ps 51:5).
9 Lema’an Shmi (for the sake of My Name) will I defer Mine anger, and for My tehillah (praise) will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
10 Hinei, I have refined thee, but not as kesef; I have chosen thee in the furnace of oni (affliction).
11 For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake will I do it; for how can I allow Chillul Hashem? And I will not give My kavod unto another.
12 Pay heed unto Me, O Ya’akov and Yisroel, My called; I am He; I am Rishon, I also am Acharon.
13 Mine Yad also hath laid the foundation of Eretz, and My yamin hath measured Shomayim; when I call them, they stand up together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and listen. Which among them [the pesilim, idols] hath declared these things? Hashem hath loved him [i.e., Cyrus], he will do His chafetz (pleasure, will) on Babylon, and His zero’a shall be on the Kasdim (Chaldeans).
15 I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called him [i.e., Cyrus]; I have brought him, and He shall make his derech successful.
16 Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this; I have not spoken baseter (in secret) merosh (from the first); from the time that it takes place, there am I; and now Adonoi Hashem, and His Ruach [Hakodesh], hath sent Me [Moshiach, the Eved Hashem; see Isaiah 42:1; see Hashem’s Kedushah HaMeshulleshet here].
17 Thus saith Hashem, thy Go’el, the Kadosh Yisroel; I am Hashem Eloheicha thy Melamed (Teacher) of doing that which profiteth, thy Madrikh (Guide, Instructor) in the Derech that thou shouldest go.
18 O if only thou hadst paid heed to My mitzvot! Then had thy shalom been like a nahar, and thy tzedakah as the waves of the yam;
19 Thy zera also had been like the chol (sand), and those that come out of thy loins like me’otav (sands of the sea thereof); his shem should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.
20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Kasdim (Chaldeans), with a voice of joyful singing declare ye, preach this, send it forth even to the ketzeh ha’aretz; say ye, Hashem hath redeemed His Eved Ya’akov.
21 And they thirsted not when He led them through the deserts; He caused the mayim to flow out of the Tzur for them; He split the Tzur also, and the mayim gushed out.
22 There is no shalom, saith Hashem, unto the resha’im.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International