Revelation 19:2

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ¹ 

For he has judged ²  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ³  poured out by her own hands!” ⁴ 

Isaiah 54:17

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. ⁵ 

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,” ⁶ 

says the Lord.

Daniel 3:17

3:17 If ⁷  our God whom we are serving exists, ⁸  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.

Daniel 3:26

3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ⁹  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 6:16

6:16 So the king gave the order, ¹¹  and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den ¹²  of lions. The king consoled ¹³  Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!”

Malachi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹⁴  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

John 12:26

12:26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow ¹⁵  me, and where I am, my servant will be too. ¹⁶  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Romans 6:22

6:22 But now, freed ¹⁷  from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit ¹⁸  leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.

¹ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

² tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

⁴ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

⁵ tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

⁶ tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”

⁷ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

⁸ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

⁹ tn Aram “answered and said.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “from the midst of the fire.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

¹¹ tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.

¹² sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.

¹³ tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”

¹⁴ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

¹⁵ tn As a third person imperative in Greek, ἀκολουθείτω (akolouqeitw) is usually translated “let him follow me.” This could be understood by the modern English reader as merely permissive, however (“he may follow me if he wishes”). In this context there is no permissive sense, but rather a command, so the translation “he must follow me” is preferred.

¹⁶ tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”

¹⁷ tn The two aorist participles translated “freed” and “enslaved” are causal in force; their full force is something like “But now, since you have become freed from sin and since you have become enslaved to God….”

¹⁸ tn Grk “fruit.”