Isaiah · Majority Standard Bible
Isaiah 46 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
1 Bel bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock. The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a burden for the weary.
2 The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.
2 They stoop and they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.
3 “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.
3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.
4 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.
4 Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
5 To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
5 “To whom will you compare me, and consider my equal, and compare me, as if we were the same?
6 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.
6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship.
7 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.
7 They bear it on their shoulder. They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. It cannot save him out of his trouble.
8 Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!
8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men. Bring it to mind again, you transgressors.
9 Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
9 Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
10 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.’
10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
11 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.
11 I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it.
12 Listen to Me, you stubborn people, far removed from righteousness:
12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness!
13 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.
13 I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
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)