Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

[51:6]  ¹ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”