Bel bows down, Nebo stoops love, theor odpls are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, aburden for the weary,
They stoop and bow down together unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.
"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel. you whom I have upheld since you were conceived. and have carried since your birth
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you, I have made you and I will sustain you, I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
"To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales, they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.
They lift it to their shoulders and carry it: they set it up in its place and there it stands From that spot it cannot move,"Though one cries out to it, it does not answer, it cannot save him from his troubles.
"Remember this,fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels
Remember the former things ,those of long ago; I am God,, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what iss till to come, I say; My purpose will wtand. and I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulgill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about. what I have planned, that will I do.
Listen to me, you stubborn- hearted. you who are far from righteousness.
I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.
Isaiah 47
"Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without aorn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stagazers who make predictions mouth throne, Daughter of the Babylonians, No more will you be called tender or delicate.
Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil, Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered, I will take vengeance; I will wpare no one."
Our Redeemer- the LORD Almighty is his name- is the Holy One of Israel
"Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babbylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people and descendant my inheritance, I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy.Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.nth; the fire
You said, I will continue forever- the eternal queen! But you did not consin anyonder these things or refled on what might happen.
"Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging inn your security and saying to yourself, I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.
Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a shingle day: loss of chidren and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.
You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, No one sees me, Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, I am, and there is none besides me.
Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom, a catastro[phe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
"Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood, Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
All the counsed you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month let them save you from what is coming upon you.
Surely they are like stubble; the fire will b urn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame, Here are no coals to warn anyone, here is no fire to sit by.
That is all tghey can do for you- these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood, Each of them goes on in his error, there is not one that can save you.
Isaiah 48
"Listen to this, O house of Jacon, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel- but not in truth or righteousness-
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel- the LORD Almighty is his name
I foretold the former tjhings long ago my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted and they came to pass.My
For I knew how stubborn you were, the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze,
Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, My idols did them, my wooden image and metal god ordained them.
You have heard these things , look at them all . Will you not admit them?"From now on I will tell you of new things , of hidden things unknon to you.
They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, Yes, I knew of them.
You have neither heard npr understood, from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are, you were called a rebel from birth.
For my own name's sake I delay my wrath: for the sake of my priase I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off.
See, I have refined you, though not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
For my own sake.for mu own sake. I do this. How can I let myself be defarned? I will not yield my glory to another.
"Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called, I am he; I am the first and I am the last.
My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens ,when I sumamon them, they all stand up together.
"Come together , all of you, and listen, Which of the idols, has foretold these things? The LORD's chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babtlon; his arm will be against the Babylonians
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission
"Come near me and listen to this, :From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit.
This is what the LORD says- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; " I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go
."If only you had paid attentions to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of thye sea.
Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children liken its numberless grains their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me."
Leave Babtylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy, and priclaim it, Send it out to the ends of thee arth. say," The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob?
They did not thirst when be led them through the deserts; he made water flow for themf rom the rock he split the rock and water gushed out.
"There is no peace,: says the LORD,"for the wicked,"
Isaiah 49
Listen to me, you islands. hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD calle me; from my birth he has made mention of my name
He made my mputh like a shappened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, "You are my serant. I srael in whom I will display my splendor,"
But I said,"I have labored to no purpose, I have spent mys trength in vain and for nothing; Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God."
And now the LORD says- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel of himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been mys trength-
he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.
This is what the LORD says- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers""King will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, whi is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for tghe people to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances
to say to the captives,Come out, and tot hose ind arkness, Be free!" They will feed beside the roads abd find pasture beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them, He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside spring of watger.
I will turn all my mountains into roads and my highways will be raised up
See, they will come from afar- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan
Shout for joy, O heavens, rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people, and will have compassion on his afficted ones.
BNut Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me the Lord has forgotten me."
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breat and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls sre ever before me
Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you,
lIFT UP YOUR EYES AND LOOK AROUND; ALL YOUR SONS GATHER AND COME TO YOU, aS SURELY AS i LIVE,: DECLARES THE lord, you will wear them all as ornanents, you will put them on like a bride,
"Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small jor your people, and those who deyiured you will be far away,
The children born during your breavement will yet say in your hearing. This place is too small for us. give us more space to live in,
Then you will say in your heart, Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these- where have they come from?
This is what the Sovereign LORD says," See, I will beckon to the Gentiles. I will lift up my babber to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to theg round; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. those who hope in me will not ne dsappointed."
Can lpander be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce?
But this is what be taken from warriors and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I. the LORD, am your Savior, your Reddmer, the Mighty One of Jacob,"