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
Amplified Bible
4
“Listen carefully to Me [says the Lord], O My people,
And hear Me, O My nation;
For a [divine] law will go forth from Me,
And I will quickly establish My justice as a light to the peoples.
5
“My righteousness (justice) is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The islands and coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait with hope and confident expectation for My arm.
6
“Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner.
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.(A)
7
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God),
The people in whose heart is My law and instruction;
Do not fear the reproach and taunting of man,
Nor be distressed at their reviling.
8
“For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness and justice [faithfully promised] will exist forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
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