Isaiah 46-47

New Living Translation

³ “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
    all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
    Yes, I carried you before you were born.
⁴ I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
    until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
    I will carry you along and save you.

⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?
⁶ Some people pour out their silver and gold
    and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
    Then they bow down and worship it!
⁷ They carry it around on their shoulders,
    and when they set it down, it stays there.
    It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
    It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.

⁸ “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!
    Remember this, you guilty ones.
⁹ Remember the things I have done in the past.
    For I alone am God!
    I am God, and there is none like me.
¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future
    before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
    for I do whatever I wish.
¹¹ I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—
    a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.
I have said what I would do,
    and I will do it.

¹² “Listen to me, you stubborn people
    who are so far from doing right.
¹³ For I am ready to set things right,
    not in the distant future, but right now!
I am ready to save Jerusalem^[a]
    and show my glory to Israel.

⁴ Our Redeemer, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    is the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ “O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.
    Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.
⁶ For I was angry with my chosen people
    and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.
But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.
    You oppressed even the elderly.
⁷ You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’
    You did not reflect on your actions
    or think about their consequences.

⁸ “Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
    living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
    I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
⁹ Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
    widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
    despite all your witchcraft and magic.

¹⁰ “You felt secure in your wickedness.
    ‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
    and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
¹¹ So disaster will overtake you,
    and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
    and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
    one for which you are not prepared.

¹² “Now use your magical charms!
    Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good.
    Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
¹³ All the advice you receive has made you tired.
    Where are all your astrologers,
those stargazers who make predictions each month?
    Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.
¹⁴ But they are like straw burning in a fire;
    they cannot save themselves from the flame.
You will get no help from them at all;
    their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.
¹⁵ And all your friends,
    those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,
will go their own ways,
    turning a deaf ear to your cries.