English Standard Version
Isaiah 55:2
2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
Isaiah 55:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
- New International Version (NIV)Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
Context of Isaiah 55:2
1"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
Read all of Isaiah 55Isaiah 55:2 word by word
לָ֤מָּה תִשְׁקְלוּ־כֶ֙סֶף֙ בְּֽלוֹא־לֶ֔חֶם וִיגִיעֲכֶ֖ם בְּל֣וֹא לְשָׂבְעָ֑ה שִׁמְע֨וּ שָׁמ֤וֹעַ אֵלַי֙ וְאִכְלוּ־ט֔וֹב וְתִתְעַנַּ֥ג בַּדֶּ֖שֶׁן נַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Wherefore do ye spendשָׁקַלshâqal · to weighH8254
- moneyכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
- not breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
- and your labourיְגִיעַyegîya‛ · toilH3018
- satisfiethשׇׂבְעָהώob‛âh · satietyH7654
- notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- hearkenשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- unto me, and eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- goodטוֹבţôb · goodH2896
- and let your soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
- delightעָנֹג‛ânag · to delightH6026
- itself in fatnessדֶּ֫שֶׁןdeshen · ashesH1880
Cross-references for Isaiah 55:2
- Isaiah 44:20He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
- Jeremiah 2:13for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
- Hosea 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.
- Hosea 12:1Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt.
- Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?
- Matthew 15:9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"
- Luke 15:15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
- Romans 9:31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
- Romans 10:2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
- Philippians 3:4though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
- Hebrews 13:9Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
- Isaiah 46:6Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!
- Isaiah 51:1"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
- Exodus 15:26saying, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer."
- Deuteronomy 11:13"And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Psalms 34:11Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Commentaries on Isaiah 55:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Wherefore do ye spend - Why should ye be so zealously attached to a doctrine from which your souls derive neither comfort nor nourishment?Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good: Responding positively to God satisfies one’s spiritual, social, and physical being (see 1:19; 58:13–14; Proverbs 4:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. not bread--(Ha 2:13). "Bread of deceit" (Pr 20:17). Contrast this with the "bread of life" (Joh 6:32, 35; also Lu 14:16-20). satisfieth not--(Ec 1:8; 4:8). hearken ... and eat--When two imperatives are joined, the second expresses the consequence of obeying the command in the first (Ge 42:18). By hearkening ye shall eat. So in Is 55:1, "buy and eat." By buying, and so making it your own, ye shall eat, that is, experimentally enjoy it (Joh 6:53)…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 55:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 55
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries