Isaiah 55:2

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• 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, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 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. 3Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.

Isaiah 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 44:20Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
• Jeremiah 2:13“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
• Hosea 8:7“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
• Hosea 12:1Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
• Habakkuk 2:13Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
• Matthew 15:9They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”
• Luke 15:15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
• Romans 9:31but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.
• Romans 10:2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
• Philippians 3:4though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
• Hebrews 13:9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.
• Isaiah 46:6Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.
• Isaiah 51:1“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
• Exodus 15:26He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
• Deuteronomy 11:13So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—
• Psalms 34:11Come, my 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

• Bread
• Church
• Desire
• Diligence
• Gospel
• Hunger
• Jesus, the Christ
• Money
• Peace
• Regeneration
• Salvation

In the dictionaries

• Fatness
• Near
• Spend
• Void
• Diligence; Diligent; Diligently
• Isaiah
• Logos
• Saviour

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