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Isaiah 46:2

1 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.

4 Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.

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This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.
KJV
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
WEB
They stoop and they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.
ASV
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
DARBY
They bend, they are bowed down together; they could not deliver the burden, and themselves are gone into captivity.
BLB
They stoop low, they bend down together; they could not deliver the burden, and their souls have gone into captivity.
ÅB
De faller om, segner alle sammen, de kan ikke redde byrden, og selv går de bort i fangenskap.
OTB
De synker sammen og bøyer seg; de kan ikke redde byrden, og de selv går i fangenskap.
B1930
De faller om, segner alle sammen, de kan ikke redde byrden, og selv går de bort i fangenskap.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Jeremiah 48:7

    Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.

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  • Judges 18:17–18

    And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

    Read in context

  • Judges 18:24

    He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 43:12–13

    I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.

    Read in context

  • 2 Samuel 5:21

    There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.

    Read in context

  • Isaiah 37:12

    Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?

    Read in context

  • Isaiah 44:17

    From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

    Read in context

  • Isaiah 36:18–19

    Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

    Read in context