Bible Strands

Isaiah 55:2

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Isaiah to Israel, framing the verse as a rebuke within an invitation: the previous verse offers free sustenance, the next promises an everlasting covenant.

The words — לָמָה (lammah, "why?") opens the verse as a blunt rhetorical challenge, not a question expecting an answer. לְשָׂבְעָה (le'save'ah, "to satiety") names the goal: not a snack but fullness.

The thread — The contrast between futile spending and true satisfaction echoes Jeremiah 2:13 (forsaking the fountain of living water) and finds its fulfillment in John 6:48, where Jesus identifies himself as the bread of life.

Why it lands — It asks the reader to audit where their money and labor go and to recognize that the problem is not scarcity but misdirected investment. The demand is to listen, not to buy more.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

לָ֤מָּהLa./mah<to>/ why?תִשְׁקְלוּ־tish.ke.lu-do you weigh outכֶ֙סֶף֙khe.sefmoneyבְּֽלוֹא־be./lo'-for/ notלֶ֔חֶםLe.chembreadוִיגִיעֲכֶ֖םvi./gi.'a./Khemand/ toil/ yourבְּל֣וֹאbe./Lo'for/ notלְשָׂבְעָ֑הle./sa.ve.'Ahto/ satietyשִׁמְע֨וּshim.'Ulistenשָׁמ֤וֹעַsha.Mo.a'steadfastly <to listen>אֵלַי֙'e.La/ito/ meוְאִכְלוּ־ve./'ikh.lu-and/ eatט֔וֹבTovgood thing[s]וְתִתְעַנַּ֥גve./tit.'a.Nagso/ it may take delightבַּדֶּ֖שֶׁןba./De.shenin <the>/ fatnessנַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃naf.she./Khemappetite/ your

King James Version

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.

Cross-references