Yesaya 14:3

14:3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

Yesaya 44:21

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ² 

Yesaya 49:6

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 ³  of Israel? ⁴ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ⁵ 

so you can bring ⁶  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

[14:3]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[44:21]  ² tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[49:6]  ³ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ⁴ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ⁵ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”