Isaiah 46-48

New American Standard Bible

Babylon’s Idols and the True God

46 ^(A)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things ^[a]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 ^[b]have themselves ^(B)gone into captivity.

³“^(C)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all ^(D)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been ^(E)carried by Me from ^[c]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
⁴Even to your old age ^(F)I ^[d]will be the same,
And even to your ^[e]^(G)graying years I will ^[f]carry you!
I have ^[g]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will ^[h]carry you and I will save you.

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

⁸“^(O)Remember this, and be ^[i]assured;
^(P)Recall it to ^[j]mind, you ^(Q)wrongdoers.
⁹Remember the ^(R)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is ^(S)no other;
I am God, and there is ^(T)no one like Me,
¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘^(U)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
¹¹Calling a ^(V)bird of prey from the ^(W)east,
The man of ^[k]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have ^(X)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.

¹²“^(Y)Listen to Me, you ^(Z)stubborn-minded,
Who are ^(AA)far from righteousness.
¹³I ^(AB)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant ^(AC)salvation in Zion,
And My ^(AD)glory for Israel.

Mourning for Babylon

47 “^(AE)Come down and sit in the dust,
^(AF)Virgin ^(AG)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called ^(AH)tender and delicate.
²Take the ^(AI)millstones and ^(AJ)grind flour.
Remove your ^(AK)veil, ^(AL)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
³Your ^(AM)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will ^(AN)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
⁴Our ^(AO)Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
⁵“^(AP)Sit silently, and go into ^(AQ)darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The ^(AR)queen of ^(AS)kingdoms.
⁶I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And handed them over to you.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the ^(AT)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
⁷Yet you said, ‘I will be a ^(AU)queen forever.’
These things you did not ^(AV)consider
Nor remember the ^(AW)outcome of ^[l]them.

⁸“Now, then, hear this, you ^(AX)luxuriant one,
Who ^(AY)lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
‘^(AZ)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will ^(BA)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
⁹But these ^(BB)two things will come on you ^(BC)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many ^(BD)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
¹⁰You felt ^(BE)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘^(BF)No one sees me,’
Your ^(BG)wisdom and your knowledge, ^[m]they have led you astray;
For you have said in your heart,
‘^(BH)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
¹¹But ^(BI)evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And ^(BJ)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you ^(BK)suddenly.

¹²“Persist now in your ^(BL)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to benefit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
¹³You are ^(BM)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the ^(BN)astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and ^(BO)save you from what will come upon you.
¹⁴Behold, they have become ^(BP)like stubble,
^(BQ)Fire burns them;
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be ^(BR)no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Those who have ^(BS)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own ^[n]way;
There is ^(BT)no one to save you.

Israel’s Obstinacy

48 “^(BU)Hear this, house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came from the ^(BV)waters of Judah,
Who ^(BW)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in ^(BX)righteousness.
²For they name themselves after the ^(BY)holy city,
And ^(BZ)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of armies is His name.
³I ^(CA)declared the former things long ago,
And they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
^(CB)Suddenly I acted, and they ^(CC)came to pass.
⁴Because I know that you are ^[o]^(CD)obstinate,
And your ^(CE)neck is an iron tendon
And your ^(CF)forehead bronze,
⁵Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before ^[p]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My ^(CG)idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.’
⁶You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you ^(CH)new things from this time,
Hidden things which you have not known.
⁷They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
⁸You have not ^(CI)heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a ^[q]^(CJ)rebel from ^[r]birth.
⁹^(CK)For the sake of My name I ^(CL)delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but ^(CM)not as silver;
I have tested you in the ^(CN)furnace of affliction.
¹¹^(CO)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My ^(CP)glory to another.

Rescue Promised

¹²“Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel ^[s]whom I called;
^(CQ)I am He, ^(CR)I am the first, I am also the last.
¹³Assuredly My hand ^(CS)founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I ^(CT)call to them, they stand together.
¹⁴^(CU)Assemble, all of you, and listen!
^(CV)Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will ^(CW)carry out His good pleasure against ^(CX)Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
¹⁵I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have ^(CY)called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
¹⁶^(CZ)Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have ^(DA)not spoken in secret,
^(DB)From the time it took place, I was there.
And now ^(DC)the Lord ^[t]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

¹⁷This is what the Lord says, He who is your ^(DD)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to benefit,
Who ^(DE)leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸If only you had ^(DF)paid attention to My commandments!
Then your ^[u]^(DG)well-being would have been like a river,
And your ^(DH)righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹Your ^[v]^(DI)descendants would have been like the sand,
And ^[w]your offspring like its grains;
^(DJ)Their name would never be eliminated or destroyed from My presence.”

²⁰^(DK)Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of ^(DL)joyful shouting, proclaim this,
^(DM)Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “^(DN)The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
²¹They did not ^(DO)thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He ^(DP)made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and ^(DQ)the water gushed out.
²²“^(DR)There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.