51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the Garden of the Lord.
Happiness and joy will be restored to 1 her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!
Listen to me, my people!
For 2 I will issue a decree, 3
I will make my justice a light to the nations. 4
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 5
I am ready to deliver, 6
I will establish justice among the nations. 7
The coastlands 8 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 9
51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 10 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 11 is permanent;
the vindication I provide 12 will not disappear. 13
1 tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn Or “certainly.”
3 tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”
4 tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”
3 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
4 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
5 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
6 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
7 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
5 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
6 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
7 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”