46
The gods of Babylonia are useless
1 It is as though the statues of the gods of Babylonia, Bel and Nebo,
are bowing down as they are put on animals and carried away!
The statues are heavy burdens and make the animals tired!
2 It seems like both animals are bowing down;
not only can they not save themselves,
but they themselves are being exiled!
3 Yahweh says, “You descendants of Jacob who were exiled,
it is as though I have carried you
since you first became a nation [MET].
I carried you even before you became a nation.
4 I will be your God, and I will carry you for many years,
until it is as though you are an old man with gray hair.
I caused you to become a nation,
and I will sustain you and rescue you.
5 There is no one to whom I can be compared.
There is no one who is equal to me [DOU].
6 So it is ridiculous that some people pour out gold and silver from their bags
and weigh them on a scale.
Then they hire a man who makes things from gold to make an idol from it.
After he makes one, they bow down and worship it!
7 They lift it up and carry it on their shoulders.
Then they put it in a special place,
and it stays there.
It cannot move!
And when someone prays to it, the idol does not answer.
So obviously it cannot rescue anyone from his troubles!
8 You people of Israel, do not forget this;
keep it in your minds, you sinful people!
9 Think about the things that I did long ago.
Only I am God; I am God, and there is no one like me.
10 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.
11 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 wanted him to do,
what I have planned.
12 You stubborn people of Israel
think that it will be a long time before you are freed from being exiled.
13 But I will rescue you,
and it will not be a long time before that happens.
I will not delay doing it.
I will rescue Jerusalem
and show to the Israeli people that I am glorious.
Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.