CHAPTER 46

1 Bel hath bowed down; Nebo is fallen; Their images shall be on the beasts And the cattle; They who carry you are burdened by you; A wearisome burden.

2 They bowed down; they stooped together; And they could not withdraw themselves from the binden; And their soul hath gone away into captivity.

3 Hear me, O house of Jacob; All ye the remnant of the house of Israel; Who are borne from the womb; Who are carried from the breast.

4 And even to old age I am the same; And even to gray hairs I will carry. I have made, And I will bear; I will carry, And will save.

5 To whom will ye liken, And make me equal, And compare me, that I may be like?

6 Lavishing gold out of bags; Weighing silver in a balance; They shall hire a goldsmith, to make of it a god; To bow down before it, And to worship it.

7 They shall carry him on the shoulder; They shall lead him about; They shall put him in his place; There shall he stand; From his place shall he not remove; Moreover, if any one cry to him, he will not answer, Nor deliver him from his trouble.

8 Remember ye this, And blush; ²⁷⁸²⁷⁸     Or, Take courage. Return to your heart, ye transgressors.

9 Remember the former things of old; For I am God, And there is none besides, And there is none like me.

10 Declaring the latest event from the beginning, And from antiquity those things which had not yet been done; Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do whatever I wish.

11 Calling a bird ²⁷⁹²⁷⁹     Or, a thought. from the east, From a distant country the man of my counsel; I have spoken, And accordingly I will accomplish it; I have thought, And I will do it.

12 Hear me, ye that are stubborn in heart, Who are far from righteousness.

13 I will cause my righteousness to come near, And it shall not be delayed; And my salvation shall not tarry; And I will place salvation in Zion, And my glory in Jerusalem.