46:5 To whom can you compare and liken me?
Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale 1
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 2 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
46:8 Remember this, so you can be brave! 3
Think about it, you rebels! 4
46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! 5
Truly I am God, I have no peer; 6
I am God, and there is none like me,
46:10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand 7 what has not yet occurred,
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire,’
46:11 who summons an eagle 8 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 9
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
46:12 Listen to me, you stubborn people, 10
you who distance yourself from doing what is right. 11
46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near, 12 it does not wait.
I will save Zion; 13
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” 14
1 tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
2 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
3 tn The meaning of the verb אָשַׁשׁ (’ashash, which appears here in the Hitpolel stem) is uncertain. BDB 84 s.v. אשׁשׁ relates it to a root meaning “found, establish” in Arabic; HALOT 100 s.v. II אשׁשׁ gives the meaning “pluck up courage.” The imperative with vav (ו) may indicate purpose following the preceding imperative.
4 tn Heb “return [it], rebels, to heart”; NRSV “recall it to mind, you transgressors.”
5 tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”
6 tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”
8 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
9 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
10 tn Heb “strong of heart [or, mind]”; KJV “stouthearted”; NAB “fainthearted”; NIV “stubborn-hearted.”
11 tn Heb “who are far from righteousness [or perhaps, “deliverance”].”
12 tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).
13 tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”
14 tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”