Revelation 15:3

15:3 They ¹  sang the song of Moses the servant ²  of God and the song of the Lamb: ³ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ⁴ 

Just ⁵  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ⁶ 

Revelation 16:5-7

16:5 Now ⁷  I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are just ⁸  – the one who is and who was,

the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ⁹ 

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ¹⁰  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ¹¹ 

16:7 Then ¹²  I heard the altar reply, ¹³  “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ¹⁴  your judgments are true and just!”

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ¹⁵  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ¹⁶  and upright.

Psalms 19:9

19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right ¹⁷ 

and endure forever. ¹⁸ 

The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy

and absolutely just. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 25:1

25:1 O Lord, you are my God! ²⁰ 

I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. ²¹ 

For you have done extraordinary things,

and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. ²² 

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

² tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

³ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁴ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

⁵ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

⁶ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.

⁸ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

⁹ tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

¹¹ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹³ tn Grk “the altar saying.”

¹⁴ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

¹⁵ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

¹⁶ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

¹⁷ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord is clean.” The phrase “fear of the Lord” probably refers here to the law, which teaches one how to demonstrate proper reverence for the Lord. See Ps 111:10 for another possible use of the phrase in this sense.

¹⁸ tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”

¹⁹ sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.

²⁰ sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.

²¹ tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.

²² tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.