Do you think there is anyone else like God?
1The Lord says: ‘Bel and Nebo,
the gods of the people of Babylon,
have fallen. They are dead.
Other people put their gods on animals
and the animals must carry them.
2Both gods have fallen,
and they can not carry anything themselves.
People have to take them
away to another land.
3Descendants of Jacob,
people of Israel who are still_alive,
listen to what I say. I have carried you
from the time that you were born.
4Even when you are old and grey,
I will still carry you. I have made you
and I will carry you. Yes,
I will carry you and I will save you.
5Who do you think is like Me?
Who can do what I do?
Do you think there is anyone like Me?
6Some people take money from their pockets
and weigh silver on a balance-scale.
They pay a goldsmith to make them a god.
Then the people bow down
before the god and they worship it.
7They pick up their god
and they carry it and put it down.
The god stands there, and it can not move.
When someone asks the god to help him,
the god does not answer him
and it can not save him.
8People of Israel,
you who are rebellious_against the Lord,
you must think about this and remember it.
9You must remember the things
that happened long ago.
Yes, I am God, and there is no other God.
I am the only God. There is no one like Me.
10It was I who said long ago what would happen.
I said it long before it happened.
It was I who said what I had decided would happen,
and I will do what I want to do.
11It was I who called a man from the east,
a man who comes from far away like a vulture.
If I have said something will happen,
then it will happen. I always do what I have decided.
12People of Israel, you are stubborn,
and you don't do what is right,
but you must listen to Me.
13I will do what is right.
I will save you and be with you,
and it will happen soon. I will bless Zion,
and I will be proud of the people of Israel again.’
