NET Bible
"But I thought,“I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” But the LORD will vindicate me; my God will reward me."
— Isaiah 49:4, NET Bible
“Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.”
“But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense with my God. ”
“But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice [due] to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God."”
“And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.”
“And I said, I have undergone weariness for nothing, I have given my strength for no purpose or profit: but still the Lord will take up my cause, and my God will give me my reward.”
“Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.”
Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The LORD summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid me in his quiver.
He said to me,“You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”
But I thought,“I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” But the LORD will vindicate me; my God will reward me.
So now the LORD says, the one who formed me from birth to be his servant– he did this to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored in the LORD’s sight, for my God is my source of strength–
he says,“Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? I will make you a light to the nations, so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
This is what the LORD, the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers:“Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down, because of the faithful LORD, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”