Discovery BoxIsaiah 51:4-6 
Context51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!
Listen to me, my people!
For 1 I will issue a decree, 2
I will make my justice a light to the nations. 3
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 4
I am ready to deliver, 5
I will establish justice among the nations. 6
The coastlands 7 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 8
51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 9 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 10 is permanent;
1 tn Or “certainly.”
2 tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”
3 tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”
4 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
5 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
6 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
7 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
8 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
10 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
11 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
12 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
