Isaiah 46:1
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
Isaiah 46 belongs to the later part of Isaiah's prophecy that carries readers forward to Christ's sufferings and the glory of his reign, with its local historical setting less prominent than in the earlier prophecies. Bel and Nebo are Babylonian idols that bow down and stoop, laid as a heavy load upon beasts and cattle so that they become a burden to the weary animals. Their being brought low depicts the fall of Babylon and marks the decline of the Babylonian system of idol worship, which after Persia conquered Babylon lost its dominant state-backed position, was never restored to its former prominence, and gradually declined.
In contrast to the living Creator, the idols are powerless because they must be carried and cannot carry or save their worshipers. Their tiresome weight on the animals bears witness to God's greatness. The chapter containing the verse gives one of the proofs that the Lord is God, in that He declares the end from the beginning and foretells what has not yet happened.