Isaiah 51:4-8
New English Translation
4 Pay attention to me, my people.
Listen to me, my people!
For[a] I will issue a decree,[b]
I will make my justice a light to the nations.[c]
5 I am ready to vindicate,[d]
I am ready to deliver,[e]
I will establish justice among the nations.[f]
The coastlands[g] wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power.[h]
6 Look up at the sky.
Look at the earth below.
For the sky will dissipate[i] like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give[j] is permanent;
the vindication I provide[k] will not disappear.[l]
7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law.[m]
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide[n] will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:4 tn Or “certainly.”
- Isaiah 51:4 tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”
- Isaiah 51:4 tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”
- Isaiah 51:5 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
- Isaiah 51:5 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
- Isaiah 51:5 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
- Isaiah 51:5 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
- Isaiah 51:5 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 51:6 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
- Isaiah 51:6 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
- Isaiah 51:6 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
- Isaiah 51:6 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
- Isaiah 51:7 tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”
- Isaiah 51:8 tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”
Isaiah 51:4-8
International Standard Version
4 “Pay attention to me, my people!
Listen to me, my nation!
For instruction[a] will go out from me,
and my justice will become a light for the nations.[b]
I will quickly bring 5 my deliverance near;
my salvation is on the way.
His arm[c] will bring justice to[d] the nations;[e]
the coastlands will hope for him,[f]
and they will wait for his arm.[g]
6 “Lift up your eyes, you[h] heavens
and look to the earth beneath;
and see who created these.[i]
Its inhabitants will die just like this;[j]
but my salvation will be forever,
and my deliverance will never fail.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
you people who have my instruction[k] in their hearts.
Don’t fear the insults of mortals,
and don’t be dismayed at their hateful words.[l]
8 For moths will eat them up just like a garment,
and worms will devour them like wool;
but my deliverance will last[m] forever,
and my salvation to all generations.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:4 Or For the Law
- Isaiah 51:4 Lit. peoples
- Isaiah 51:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab reads My arms; or My arm; MT LXX read My arms
- Isaiah 51:5 The verb is pl. in 1QIsaa MT
- Isaiah 51:5 Lit. peoples
- Isaiah 51:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read me
- Isaiah 51:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read my arm
- Isaiah 51:6 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read to the
- Isaiah 51:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read for the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment
- Isaiah 51:6 Or like gnats
- Isaiah 51:7 Or Law
- Isaiah 51:7 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; spelling differs from MT; LXX reads contempt
- Isaiah 51:8 Lit. be
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