46 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 46
|
||
1 Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon,
|
||
bow as they are lowered to the ground.
|
||
They are being hauled away on ox carts.
|
||
The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
|
||
2 Both the idols and their owners are bowed down.
|
||
The gods cannot protect the people,
|
||
and the people cannot protect the gods.
|
||
They go off into captivity together.
|
||
3 “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
|
||
all you who remain in Israel.
|
||
I have cared for you since you were born.
|
||
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
|
||
4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
|
||
until your hair is white with age.
|
||
I made you, and I will care for you.
|
||
I will carry you along and save you.
|
||
5 “To whom will you compare me?
|
||
Who is my equal?
|
||
6 Some people pour out their silver and gold
|
||
and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
|
||
Then they bow down and worship it!
|
||
7 They carry it around on their shoulders,
|
||
and when they set it down, it stays there.
|
||
It can’t even move!
|
||
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
|
||
It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.
|
||
8 “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!
|
||
Remember this, you guilty ones.
|
||
9 Remember the things I have done in the past.
|
||
For I alone am God!
|
||
I am God, and there is none like me.
|
||
10 Only I can tell you the future
|
||
before it even happens.
|
||
Everything I plan will come to pass,
|
||
for I do whatever I wish.
|
||
11 I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—
|
||
a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.
|
||
I have said what I would do,
|
||
and I will do it.
|
||
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn people
|
||
who are so far from doing right.
|
||
13 For I am ready to set things right,
|
||
not in the distant future, but right now!
|
||
I am ready to save Jerusalem
|
||
and show my glory to Israel. |