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OET (OET-LV) and he_will_be_wiping_out every tear from the eyes of_them, and the death not will_be anymore, neither mourning, nor clamour, nor misery, not will_be anymore.
The first things went_away.
OET (OET-RV) He’ll wipe all their tears away from their eyes, and there won’t be any more death or grieving, or crying or pain. They won’t even exist any longer—the original world is gone.”
In this section, John saw a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem. John also heard someone explain that God now lives with his people. The person also spoke about those who did not follow God.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The new heaven and earth descended, and God began living with his people
All things made new (JBP)
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’
He will wipe all their tears away.
He will remove all their grief and sorrow.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes: This clause implies that God’s people will not be sad again. In some languages a literal translation would not imply that. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Include this implied information in your translation. For example:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes so that they will not be sad ever again
Translate the meaning with this implied information. For example:
He will remove all their grief and sorrow
God will comfort them so that they never cry/weep again
See how you translated a similar clause in 7:17.
and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
People will no longer die. They will not be sad, or cry, or have pain,
and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain: The Greek words are literally “death will not be/exist anymore, nor grief nor crying nor pain will be/exist anymore.” No one will experience any of these things in the new Jerusalem. Other ways to translate this clause are:
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more (NRSV)
death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain (NET)
No one will experience dying, grief, weeping, or pain
In some languages it is more natural to translate the nouns death, mourning, crying, and pain as verbs. For example:
No one will ever die. No one will mourn, or cry, or suffer
mourning or crying: These words refer to weeping, that is, tears in the eyes because of sadness.
for the former things have passed away.”
for the first things have passed away.” (NRSV)
because the old things and their ways no longer exist.”
for: This conjunction introduces the reason that there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.
the former things have passed away: This clause refers to the way of life on the first earth. That way of life included death, mourning, crying, and pain. Now all that has ended. Other ways to translate this clause are:
the first things have disappeared (GW)
the former things have ceased to exist (NET)
all the old ways are gone (NCV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
ἐξαλείψει πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν
˱he˲_˓will_be˒_wiping_out (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξαλείψει παν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν καί ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγή οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι Τά πρῶτα ἀπῆλθαν)
By using one thing that a person might do to console another person, John is representing all that someone might do to console someone else. If it would be helpful in your language, you could name something that someone might do similarly in your culture, or you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [God will console them]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, οὔτε πένθος, οὔτε κραυγὴ, οὔτε πόνος
¬the death not will_be anymore neither mourning nor (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξαλείψει παν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν καί ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγή οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι Τά πρῶτα ἀπῆλθαν)
John is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [death will not be any longer, and grieving will not be any longer, and crying will not be any longer, and pain will not be any longer]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
τὰ πρῶτα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξαλείψει παν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν καί ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγή οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι Τά πρῶτα ἀπῆλθαν)
John is using the adjective first as a noun to mean a certain kind of thing. ULT adds the word things to show that. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [the things that existed first]
Note 4 topic: translate-ordinal
τὰ πρῶτα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξαλείψει παν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν καί ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγή οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι Τά πρῶτα ἀπῆλθαν)
If your language does not use ordinal numbers, you could use a cardinal number here or an equivalent expression. Alternate translation: [the former things]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / personification
ἀπῆλθαν
went_away
John is speaking of the first things as if they were living things that have gone away on their own. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [no longer exist]
OET (OET-LV) and he_will_be_wiping_out every tear from the eyes of_them, and the death not will_be anymore, neither mourning, nor clamour, nor misery, not will_be anymore.
The first things went_away.
OET (OET-RV) He’ll wipe all their tears away from their eyes, and there won’t be any more death or grieving, or crying or pain. They won’t even exist any longer—the original world is gone.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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