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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.
- BSB Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- 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.
- NASB “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 delight yourself in abundance.
- 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God asks why people spend money and labor on what cannot satisfy, urging them to listen and feast on what is good. It matters because only God's provision truly satisfies the soul.
Overview
The verse exposes the futility of seeking fulfillment in things that are 'not bread' and cannot nourish. God calls for attentive listening as the path to true delight and abundance. This rebukes misplaced striving and points to Christ, the bread of life, in whom alone the soul finds lasting satisfaction (John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 34
- John 6:48–58I am that bread of life.
- Jer 2:13For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
- Ps 36:8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
- Rom 10:2–3For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
- Ps 22:26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
- Jer 31:14And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
- Heb 13:9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
- Isa 51:7Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
- Mark 7:14And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
- Hab 2:13Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
- Matt 22:4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
- Hos 8:7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
- Ps 63:5My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
- Isa 51:1Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
- Matt 15:9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
- Ps 34:11Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
- Isa 1:19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
- Isa 51:4Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
- Rom 9:31But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
- Prov 9:5Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
- Isa 46:6They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
- Hos 12:1Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
- Rom 10:17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- Luke 15:23And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
- Deut 11:13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Prov 8:32Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
- Exod 15:26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
- Isa 25:6And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
- Phil 3:4–7Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
- Eccl 6:2A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
- Luke 15:15–16And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Prov 7:23Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
- Prov 1:33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 55:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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