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.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.”
- BSB But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”
- NKJV Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, And my work with my God.’ ”
- NASB But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and futility; Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My reward is with My God.”
- NLT I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Servant voices a sense of labor seemingly spent in vain, yet entrusts his cause and reward to God.
Overview
Despite his calling, the Servant feels his work has been fruitless, a note of apparent failure and rejection. Rather than despair, he commits his vindication and recompense to Yahweh. This anticipates Christ, who though despised entrusted Himself to the Father who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23) and was vindicated in resurrection and exaltation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 35:4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
- Gal 4:11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
- Matt 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
- Isa 53:10–12Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
- Matt 17:17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
- Ezek 3:19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
- 2 Cor 12:15And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
- Isa 65:23They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
- Isa 62:11Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
- Isa 40:10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
- 2 Cor 2:15For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
- Luke 24:26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
- John 1:11He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
- Phil 2:9–10Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
- Lev 26:20And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
- Heb 12:2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Rom 10:21But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
- Isa 65:2I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
- John 17:4–5I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
- Ps 22:22–31I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 49:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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