Isaiah 46:1-7
English Standard Version
The Idols of Babylon and the One True God
46 (A)Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but (B)themselves go into captivity.
3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
(C)who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 (D)even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
5 (E)“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6 (F)Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
(G)then they fall down and worship!
7 (H)They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
(I)it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
Isaiah 46:1-7
Common English Bible
Babylon’s idols can’t compare
46 Bel crouches down; Nebo cowers.
Their idols sit on animals, on beasts.
The objects you once carried about
are now borne as burdens by the weary animals.
2 They crouch down and cower together.
They aren’t able to rescue the burden,
but they themselves go into captivity.
3 Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all that remains from the house of Israel
who have been borne by me since pregnancy,
whom I carried from the womb
4 until you grow old. I am the one,
and until you turn gray I will support you.
I have done it, and I will continue to bear it;
I will support and I will rescue.
5 To whom will you liken me and count me equal
and compare me so that we are alike?
6 Those who pour out gold from a bag
and weigh silver with a balance
hire a metalworker; then he makes a god.
They bow down; they worship;
7 they carry the idol[a] on their shoulders and support it;
they set it down, and it stands still,
unable to move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it doesn’t answer.
It can’t save people from their distress.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 46:7 Or it
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible