Isaiah 49:4

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“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.””

What this verse means

Read Isaiah 49:4 in the flow of Isaiah49 for its full sense, then follow the cross-references below to the passages that echo it. Open Isaiah49 to see the surrounding context.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“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.””

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“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.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“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.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“And I said, `For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment <FI>is<Fi> with Jehovah, And my wage with my God.”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Isaiah 49:4 — 22 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Leviticus 26:20and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.
  2. 1 Kings 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
  3. Psalms 22:22I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the assembly.
  4. Isaiah 35:4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
  5. Isaiah 40:10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.
  6. Isaiah 53:10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
  7. Isaiah 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
  8. Isaiah 62:11Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.”
  9. Isaiah 65:2All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
  10. Isaiah 65:23They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD— they and their descendants with them.
  11. Ezekiel 3:19But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.
  12. Matthew 17:17“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”
  13. Matthew 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
  14. Luke 24:26Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
  15. John 1:11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
  16. John 17:4I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.
  17. Romans 10:21But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
  18. 2 Corinthians 2:15For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
  19. 2 Corinthians 12:15And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?
  20. Galatians 4:11I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.
  21. Philippians 2:9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,
  22. Hebrews 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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