49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” ¹ 

49:4 But I thought, ²  “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ³ 

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me. ⁴ 

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ⁵  to be his servant –

he did this ⁶  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ⁷  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ⁸  –

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ⁹  of Israel? ¹⁰ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹¹ 

so you can bring ¹²  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ¹³  of Israel, their Holy One, ¹⁴  says

to the one who is despised ¹⁵  and rejected ¹⁶  by nations, ¹⁷ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ¹⁸ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”