| New Living Translation | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Bel 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. | 1Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle. The images you carry are loaded, as a burden for the weary animal. |
| 2Both 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. | 2The gods cower; they crouch together; they are not able to rescue the burden, but they themselves go into captivity. |
| 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. | 3"Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. |
| 4I 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. | 4I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you. |
| 5“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal? | 5"Who will you compare me or make me equal to? Who will you measure me with, so that we should be like each other? |
| 6Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it! | 6Those who pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales--they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. Then they kneel and bow down to it. |
| 7They 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. | 7They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands; it does not budge from its place. They cry out to it but it doesn't answer; it saves no one from his trouble. |
| 8“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. | 8"Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors! |
| 9Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. | 9Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like me. |
| 10Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. | 10I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will. |
| 11I 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. | 11I call a bird of prey from the east, a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it. |
| 12“Listen to me, you stubborn people who are so far from doing right. | 12Listen to me, you hardhearted, far removed from justice: |
| 13For 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. | 13I am bringing my justice near; it is not far away, and my salvation will not delay. I will put salvation in Zion, my splendor in Israel. |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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