Passage

Isaiah 46.13

Book: Isaiah

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it. 12. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness:"

"13. I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." (Isaiah 46:11-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it. 12. Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness!"

"13. I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel." (Isaiah 46:11-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. ^{that: Heb. of my counsel} 12. Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:"

"13. I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." (Isaiah 46:11-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. Calling from the east a ravenous bird, From a far land the man of My counsel, Yea, I have spoken, yea, I bring it in, I have formed [it], yea, I do it. 12. Hearken unto Me, ye mighty in heart, Who are far from righteousness."

"13. I have brought near My righteousness, It is not far off, And My salvation, it doth not tarry, And I have given in Zion salvation, To Israel My glory!" (Isaiah 46:11-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH through the prophet Isaiah (Second-Isaiah / chapters 40-55, the "Book of Consolation")
Audience: the Judean exiles in Babylon, and the broader Israel awaiting return
Location: addressed to Babylon-in-exile; spoken in Jerusalem-tradition prophetic voice
Time period: the prophetic horizon is the Babylonian exile (c. 586-538 BC) and its end; redactional dating debated

Theological reading

Isaiah 46:13 is the canonical anchor for the Isaianic-vindication deployment of [[H6666 - tzedakah|tzedaqah]]. The verse pairs tzidqati ("my righteousness") with teshuʿati ("my salvation") in synonymous parallelism, God's righteousness is His saving-vindicating act for His people. The pair structurally defines what righteousness means in Second-Isaiah's vocabulary: not a divine attribute the believer must measure up to but a divine enacted vindication by which God rectifies the broken covenant relationship. The same pair runs through Isa 51:5-8, 56:1, 59:16-17, and 61:10. Paul activates this deployment in Romans 1:17, "the righteousness of God is revealed", where the apparent paradox of a righteousness that is revealed in the gospel (rather than demanded by it) is resolved by reading dikaiosynē theou on its Isaianic-vindication base. The verse is one of the foundational OT texts for the Reformation doctrine of justification and for the contemporary New Perspective reading of Pauline dikaiosynē theou.

Key words

H6666 - tzedakah, tzedaqah (Strong's H6666). The Isaianic tzedaqah-yeshuah pair that shapes Pauline dikaiosynē theou.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.