Isaiah 65 · Verse 23

Isaiah 65:23

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
Isaiah 65:23, King James Version

Isaiah 65:23 in other translations

BSBThey will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD— they and their descendants with them.
WEBThey will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.
ASVThey shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.
YLTThey labour not for a vain thing, Nor do they bring forth for trouble, For the seed of the blessed of Jehovah are they, And their offspring with them.
DARBYThey shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for terror; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.
BBETheir work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.
WebsterThey shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

What does Isaiah 65:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. bring forth for trouble--literally, "for terror," that is, "They shall not bring forth children for a sudden death" (Le 26:16; Jr 15:8). seed ... blessed--(Is 61:9). offspring with them--(Ho 9:12). "Their offspring shall be with themselves" [Maurer]; not "brought forth" only to be cut off by "sudden death" (see the parallel clause).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 They shall not labor in vain "My chosen shall not labor in vain" - I remove בחירי bechirai, my elect, from the end of the twenty-second to the beginning of the twenty-third verse, on the authority of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, and a MS.; contrary to the division in the Masoretic text. - L. The Septuagint is beautiful: My chosen shall not labor in vain, neither shall they beget children for the curse; for the seed is blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them." Nor bring forth for trouble "Neither shall they generate a short-lived race" - לבהלה labbehalah, in festinationem, "what shall soon hasten away." Εις καταραν for a curse, Sept. They seem to have read לאלה lealah. - Grotius. But Psa 78:33 both justifies and explains the word here: - ימיהם בהבל ויכל yemeyhem bahebel vayechal בבהלה ושנותם babbehalah ushenotham "And he consumed their days in vanity; And their years in haste." μετα σπουδης, say the Septuagint. Jerome on this place of Isaiah explains it to the same purpose: "εις ανυπαρξιαν, hoc est, ut esse desistant."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 65:17-25

In the grace and comfort believers have in and from Christ, we are to look for this new heaven and new earth. The former confusions, sins and miseries of the human race, shall be no more remembered or renewed. The approaching happy state of the church is described under a variety of images. He shall be thought to die in his youth, and for his sins, who only lives to the age of a hundred years. The event alone can…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 65:17-25 →

Isaiah 65:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹ֤אlo'notH3808
יִֽיגְעוּ֙yi.ge.'Uthey will laborH3021
לָרִ֔יקla.Rikto <the> emptinessH7385
וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808
יֵלְד֖וּye.le.Duthey will father childrenH3205
לַבֶּהָלָ֑הla.be.ha.Lahfor <the> sudden terrorH928
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
זֶ֜רַעZe.ra'[will be] [the] offspring ofH2233
בְּרוּכֵ֤יbe.ru.Khei[those] blessed ofH1288
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
הֵ֔מָּהHe.mahtheyH1992
וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֖םve.tze.'e.tza.'ei.Hemand descendants theirH6631
אִתָּֽם\׃'i.Tam[will be] with themH854

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 65:23

  • Isaiah 61:9

    And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

  • Jeremiah 32:38-39

    And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

  • Deuteronomy 28:3-12

    Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. …

  • Psalms 115:14-15

    The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.

  • Acts 2:39

    For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

  • Isaiah 49:4

    Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

  • Isaiah 55:2

    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.

  • Romans 9:7-8

    Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

  • Genesis 17:7

    And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

  • Haggai 2:19

    Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

  • Leviticus 26:3-10

    If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. …

  • Zechariah 10:8-9

    I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall.
49:4; 55:2; 61:9; Le 26:3-10,20,22,29; De 28:3-12,38-42
Ho 9:11-14; Hag 1:6; 2:19; Mal 3:10; 1Co 15:58
for.
61:9; Ge 12:2; 17:7; Ps 115:14,15; Jer 32:38,39; Zec 10:8,9
Ac 2:39; 3:25,26; Ro 4:16; 9:7,8; Ga 3:29

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 65:22

    They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

  • Isaiah 65:23

    They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

  • Isaiah 65:24

    And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Read all of Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No trabajarán en vano, ni parirán para maldición; porque son simiente de los benditos de Jehová, y sus descendientes con ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ils ne travailleront pas en vain, ni n’engendreront pour la frayeur; car ils sont la semence des bénis de l’ Éternel, et leur postérité avec eux.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Nicht vergeblich werden sie sich mühen, und nicht zum jähen Untergang werden sie zeugen; denn sie sind der Same der Gesegneten Jehovas, und ihre Sprößlinge werden bei ihnen sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Electi mei non laborabunt frustra, neque generabunt in conturbatione, quia semen benedictorum Domini est, et nepotes eorum cum eis.