Isaiah 51:5

51:5 I am ready to vindicate, ¹ 

I am ready to deliver, ² 

I will establish justice among the nations. ³ 

The coastlands ⁴  wait patiently for me;

they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. ⁵ 

Isaiah 60:5

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ⁶ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ⁷ 

For the riches of distant lands ⁸  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

Isaiah 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ⁹  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ¹⁰  Lud ¹¹  (known for its archers ¹² ), Tubal, Javan, ¹³  and to the distant coastlands ¹⁴  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

Zephaniah 2:11

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ¹⁵ 

for ¹⁶  he will weaken ¹⁷  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ¹⁸ 

Zechariah 9:10

9:10 I will remove ¹⁹  the chariot from Ephraim

and the warhorse from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be removed.

Then he will announce peace to the nations.

His dominion will be from sea to sea

and from the Euphrates River ²⁰  to the ends of the earth.

Ephesians 2:17-18

2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 2:18 so that ²¹  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”

² tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”

³ tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”

⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”

⁵ tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).

⁶ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

⁸ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

⁹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

¹⁰ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

¹¹ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

¹² tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

¹³ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

¹⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

¹⁵ tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”

¹⁶ tn Or “certainly.”

¹⁷ tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”

¹⁹ tc The MT first person pronoun (“I”), which seems to shift the subject too abruptly, becomes 3rd person masculine singular (“he”) in the LXX (הִכְרִית, hikhrit, presupposed for הִכְרַתִּי, hikhratti). However, the Lord is the subject of v. 8, which speaks of his protection of Jerusalem, so it is not surprising that he is the subject in v. 10 as well.

²⁰ tn Heb “the river.” The Hebrew expression typically refers to the Euphrates, so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).