Isaiah 51:5-8

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 

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ⁶  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ⁷  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ⁸  will not disappear. ⁹ 

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹⁰ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;

a clothes moth will devour them like wool.

But the vindication I provide ¹¹  will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

[51:5]  ¹ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”

[51:5]  ² tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”

[51:5]  ³ tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”

[51:5]  ⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”

[51:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).

[51:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[51:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[51:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”