Yesaya 41:8-9

The Lord Encourages His People

41:8 “You, my servant Israel,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend, ¹ 

41:9 you whom I am bringing back ²  from the earth’s extremities,

and have summoned from the remote regions –

I told you, “You are my servant.”

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Yesaya 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ³ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ⁴ 

but I blessed him ⁵  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁶ 

[41:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).

[41:9]  ² tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”

[51:2]  ³ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁵ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”