1 ARST It is as though Bel and Nebo, the statues of the gods of Babylonia, were bowing down as they are put on animals and carried away! The statues are heavy burdens and will cause the animals to become tired! BSB BSB: Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
2 ARST Gods and animals are all bowed down; the gods can save neither themselves nor the beasts of burden; the gods themselves are going into exile! BSB BSB: The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.
3 ARST Yahweh says,“You descendants of Jacob who were exiled, I am not like the gods of Babylonia that must be carried; instead, it is as though I have carried you since you first became a nation. I carried you even before you became a nation. BSB BSB: “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.
4 ARST I will be your God, and I will carry you for many years, until it is as though your nation is an old man with gray hair. I caused you to become a nation, and I will sustain you and rescue you. BSB BSB: Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.
5 ARST There is certainly no one to whom I can be compared. There is no one who is equal to me. BSB BSB: To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
6 ARST So it is stupid that some people pour out gold and silver from their bags and weigh it on a scale. Then they hire a man who makes things from gold to make an idol from it. After he makes an idol, they bow down and worship it! BSB BSB: They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
7 ARST They lift it up and carry it on their shoulders. They put it in a special place, and it stays there. It cannot move! And when someone prays to it, it does not answer. So obviously it cannot rescue anyone from his troubles! BSB BSB: They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.
8 ARST You people of Judah, do not forget this; keep thinking about it, you sinful people! BSB BSB: Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!
9 ARST Think about the things that I did long ago. Only I am God; I am God, and there is no one like me. BSB BSB: Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
10 ARST Only I can tell what will happen in the future before it occurs; I tell it long before it happens. I will accomplish everything that I plan to accomplish, and I will do everything that I want to do. BSB BSB: I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
11 ARST So I will summon Cyrus to come from the east like a swift and powerful eagle; he will come from a distant country. He will accomplish what I want him to. He is the one who will do what I have said that I want him to do, what I have planned. BSB BSB: I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.
12 ARST You stubborn people of Israel, you who are completely unable to do what is right, BSB BSB: Listen to Me, you stubborn people, far removed from righteousness:
13 ARST I will rescue you, and it will not be a long time before that happens. I will do it soon. I will rescue Jerusalem and show to you Israelite people that I am glorious.” BSB BSB: I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.