'Servant' in the Bible

You have spurned and repudiated the covenant with Your servant;You have profaned his crown [by casting it] in the dust.

O you offspring of Abraham, His servant,O you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

He sent a man before them,Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

He sent Moses His servant,And Aaron, whom He had chosen.

For He remembered His holy wordTo Abraham His servant;

Let them curse, but You bless.When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,But let Your servant rejoice.

O Lord, truly I am Your servant;I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;You have unfastened my chains.

Gimel.Deal bountifully with Your servant,That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day].

Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant,As that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.

Zayin.Remember [always] the word and promise to Your servant,In which You have made me hope.

Teth.You have dealt well with Your servant,O Lord, according to Your promise.

O may Your lovingkindness and graciousness comfort me,According to Your word (promise) to Your servant.

How many are the days of Your servant [which he must endure]?When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

Be the guarantee for Your servant for good [as Judah was the guarantee for Benjamin];Do not let the arrogant oppress me.

Deal with Your servant according to Your [gracious] lovingkindness,And teach me Your statutes.

I am Your servant; give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart]That I may know Your testimonies.

Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant,And teach me Your statutes.

Your word is very pure (refined);Therefore Your servant loves it.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep;Seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

For the sake of Your servant David,Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.

Even a heritage to Israel His servant,For His lovingkindness endures forever;

And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,For in Your sight no man living is righteous or justified.

In your lovingkindness, silence and destroy my enemiesAnd destroy all those who afflict my life,For I am Your servant.

Who gives salvation to kings,Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.

He who troubles (mismanages) his own house will inherit the wind (nothing),And the foolish will be a servant to the wise-hearted.

The king’s favor and good will are toward a servant who acts wisely and discreetly,But his anger and wrath are toward him who acts shamefully.

A wise servant will rule over the [unworthy] son who acts shamefully and brings disgrace [to the family]And [the worthy servant] will share in the inheritance among the brothers.

The rich rules over the poor,And the borrower is servant to the lender.

A servant will not be corrected by words alone;For though he understands, he will not respond [nor pay attention].

He who pampers his slave from childhoodWill find him to be a son in the end.

Do not slander or malign a servant before his master [stay out of another’s personal life],Or he will curse you [for your interference], and you will be found guilty.

Under a servant when he reigns,Under a [spiritually blind] fool when he is filled with food,

Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you,

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.

And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia),

“Then it will come to pass in that dayThat I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

‘For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

“But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen,The offspring of Abraham My friend,

You whom I [the Lord] have taken from the ends of the earth,And called from its remotest partsAnd said to you, ‘You are My servant,I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;My Chosen One in whom My soul delights.I have put My Spirit upon Him;He will bring forth justice to the nations.

Who is blind but My servant [Israel],Or deaf like My messenger whom I send?Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me [in a covenant relationship],Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?

But this is a people despoiled and plundered;All of them are trapped in holes,Or are hidden away in prisons.They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”

“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,“And My servant whom I have chosen,That you may know and believe MeAnd understand that I am He.Before Me there was no God formed,And there will be none after Me.

“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,And Israel, whom I have chosen:

This is what the Lord who made youAnd formed you from the womb, who will help you says,‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.

“Remember [the foolishness of] these things, O JacobAnd Israel, for you are My servant!I formed you, you are My servant;O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

Confirming the word of His servantAnd carrying out the plan of His messengers.It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be inhabited!’And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall [again] be built.’And I will raise up and restore her ruins.

“For the sake of Jacob My servant,And of Israel My chosen,I have also called you by your name;I have given you an honorable nameThough you have not known Me.

Get out of Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans [who reign there]!Declare with a voice of jubilation, proclaim this,Send it out to the end of the earth;Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

And [the Lord] said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,In Whom I will show My glory.”

And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,And My God is My strength—

He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My ServantTo raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;I will also make You a light to the nationsThat My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,To the thoroughly despised One,To the One hated by the nationTo the Servant of rulers,“Kings will see and arise,Princes shall also bow down,Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

The Lord God has given Me [His Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught],That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.He awakens Me morning by morning,He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple [as One who is taught].

Who is among you who fears the Lord,Who obeys the voice of His Servant,Yet who walks in darkness and has no light?Let him trust and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him rely on his God.

Indeed, My Servant (the Messiah) will act wisely and prosper;He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Just as many were astonished and appalled at you, My people,So His appearance was marred more than any manAnd His form [marred] more than the sons of men.

For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant),And like a root out of dry ground;He has no stately form or majestic splendorThat we would look at Him,Nor [handsome] appearance that we would be attracted to Him.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,He shall see it and be satisfied;By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One,My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him],For He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.

“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.

“Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave by birth?Why has he become a captive and a prey?

behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.

Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant and instrument, and I have also given the wild animals of the field to serve him.

‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ says the Lord,‘Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel;For behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile]And your descendants from the land of their captivity.Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,And no one will make him afraid.

then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and [My covenant may also be broken] with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

As the host of [the stars of] heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”

then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and his [majestic, royal] canopy will be spread over them.

“But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob,Nor be dismayed, O Israel!For behold, I will save you from [your captivity in] a distant land,And your descendants from the land of their exile;And Jacob will return and be quiet and secure,And no one will make him afraid.

“Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord,“For I am with you.For I will make a full and complete end of all the nationsTo which I have driven you;Yet I will not make a full end of you.But I will discipline and correct you appropriatelyAnd by no means will I declare you guiltless or leave you unpunished.”

‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the nations among whom they are scattered, and I manifest my Holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

“Then I will appoint over them one shepherd and he will feed them, [a ruler like] My servant David; he will feed them and be their shepherd.

And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

“My servant David will be king over them, and they all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.

They will live in the land where your fathers lived, [the land] that I gave to My servant Jacob, and they will live there, they and their children and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.

When he had come near the den, he called out to Daniel with a troubled voice. The king said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even turning aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us and the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

Now therefore, our God, listen to (heed) the prayer of Your servant (Daniel) and his supplications, and for Your own sake let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.

For how can such a [weakened] servant of my lord talk with such [a being] as my lord? For now there remains no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.”

But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.

Then the men became extremely frightened and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you [through the Messiah, your descendant] like a signet ring, for I have chosen you [as the one with whom to renew My covenant to David’s line],’” declares the Lord of hosts.

Now listen, Joshua, the high priest, you and your colleagues who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol [of what is to come]—for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch [in Messianic glory].

“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear and respect due Me?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, ‘How and in what way have we despised Your name?’

As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], awake and aware, even the one who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

“Remember [with thoughtful concern] the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.

and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.”

But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master.

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.

“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;I will put My Spirit upon Him,And He will proclaim justice to the nations.

It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

But the greatest among you will be your servant.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time?

Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so.

But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],’

the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware,