1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together, they could not deliver the burden; and themselves are gone into captivity. 3 Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that are borne by Me from the birth, that are carried from the womb: 4 Even to old age I am the same, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver. 5 To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like? 6 Ye that lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; ye that hire a goldsmith, that he make it a god, to fall down thereto, yea, to worship. 7 He is borne upon the shoulder, he is carried, and set in his place, and he standeth, from his place he doth not remove; yea, though one cry unto him, he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 Remember this, and stand fast; bring it to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: that I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me; 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying: 'My counsel shall stand, and all My pleasure will I do'; 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto Me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory.
Isaiah 46 JPS Tanakh (1917)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Numbers like (22-2) in the text give the Hebrew verse numbering where it differs.
Cross references (13)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 21:9; Jeremiah 51:44; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:52; Isaiah 41:6–7
- 2 Jeremiah 48:7; Judges 18:17–18; Judges 18:24; Jeremiah 43:12–13; 2 Samuel 5:21
- 3 Deuteronomy 1:31; Isaiah 51:7; Isaiah 51:1; Psalm 71:6; Isaiah 44:1–2
- 4 Psalm 71:18; Psalm 48:14; Psalm 92:14; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17
- 5 Isaiah 40:18; Isaiah 40:25; Psalm 89:6; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15
- 6 Acts 17:29; Jeremiah 10:14; Isaiah 40:19–20; Hosea 8:4–6; Isaiah 2:8
- 7 Isaiah 45:20; Jeremiah 10:5; Isaiah 46:1; 1 Samuel 5:3; Jonah 1:5
- 8 1 Corinthians 14:20; Luke 15:17; Haggai 1:7; Isaiah 47:7; Haggai 1:5
- 9 Isaiah 45:21–22; Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 46:5; Psalm 111:4; Deuteronomy 33:26
- 10 Proverbs 19:21; Psalm 33:11; Ephesians 1:9–11; Isaiah 43:13; Proverbs 21:30
- 11 Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 14:24–27; Job 23:13; Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 41:2
- 12 Jeremiah 2:5; Ephesians 2:13; Isaiah 46:3; Zechariah 7:11–12; Psalm 119:150
- 13 Isaiah 62:11; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 61:3; Isaiah 44:23
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And on this account, he (the Demiurge), being incapable of recognising any spiritual essences, imagined himself to be God alone, and declared through the prophets, "I am God, and besides me there is none else." They further teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from grief.
Thou wilt carry us both when little, and even to grey hairs wilt Thou carry us; for our firmness, when it is Thou, then is it firmness; but when it is our own, then it is infirmity.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)