It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil; for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
- BSB In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
- NKJV It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
- NASB It is futile for you to rise up early, To stay up late, To eat the bread of painful labor; This is how He gives to His beloved sleep.
- NLT It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
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
Anxious overwork is vain, for God provides for His beloved even as they sleep. It frees believers from frantic striving into restful trust.
Overview
The psalm warns against the anxious toil of rising early and staying up late in worry, since God grants provision and even rest to those He loves. Restful sleep becomes a sign of trusting God's care rather than one's own labor. In Christ we find true rest, ceasing from striving to earn what God freely gives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Eccl 5:12The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
- Ps 4:8I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
- Job 11:18And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
- Ps 3:5I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
- Jer 31:26Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
- Eccl 2:20–23Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
- Ezek 34:25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Prov 31:15–18She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
- Eccl 6:7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
- Ps 39:5–6Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
- Eccl 4:8There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
- Eccl 2:1–11I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
- Ps 60:5That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.
- Acts 12:5–6Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
- Gen 3:17–19And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
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The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
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Original language
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