Isaiah 65:23

Revised Standard Version

They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their children with them.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They will not labor without successor bear children destined for disaster,for they will be a people blessed by the Lordalong with their descendants.

Hebrew Names Version
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord , and their descendants with them.

New American Standard Bible
"They will not labor in vain, Or give birth to children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

New Century Version
They will never again work for nothing. They will never again give birth to children who die young. All my people will be blessed by the Lord ; they and their children will be blessed.

Amplified Bible
"They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their offspring with them.

World English Bible
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
They shall not labour in vaine, nor bring forth in feare: for they are the seede of the blessed of the Lord, and their buds with them.

Legacy Standard Bible
They will not labor in vain,Or bear children for terror;For they are the seed of those blessed by Yahweh,And their offspring with them.

Berean Standard Bible
They 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.

Contemporary English Version
Their work won't be wasted, and their children won't die of dreadful diseases. I will bless their children and their grandchildren.

Complete Jewish Bible
They will not toil in vain or raise children to be destroyed, for they are the seed blessed by Adonai ; and their offspring with them.

Darby Translation
They 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.

Easy-to-Read Version
Never again will a woman suffer childbirth and have her baby die. Women will not fear childbirth. I, the Lord , will bless all my people and their children.

George Lamsa Translation
They shall not labor in vain nor bring forth children for a curse; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, both they and their children with them.

Good News Translation
The work they do will be successful, and their children will not meet with disaster. I will bless them and their descendants for all time to come.

Lexham English Bible
They shall not labor for nothing, and they shall not give birth to horror, for they shall be offspring blessed by Yahweh, and their descendants with them.

Literal Translation
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for terror. For they are the seed of the beloved ones of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
My chosen shal lyue longe, they shall not laboure in vayne, ner beget wt trouble: for they are the hie blessed sede of the LORDE, & their frutes with them.

American Standard Version
They 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.

Bible in Basic English
Their 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.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for terror; for they are the seed blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

King James Version (1611)
They shall not labour in vaine, nor bring forth for trouble: for they are the seede of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They shall not labour in vayne, nor beget with trouble: for they are the hye blessed seede of the Lorde, and their fruites with them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
My chosen shall not toil in vain, neither shall they beget children to be cursed; for they are a seed blessed of God, and their offspring with them.

English Revised Version
They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
her hondis schulen be elde to my chosun men. Thei schulen not trauele in veyn, nether thei schulen gendre in disturblyng; for it is the seed of hem that ben blessid of the Lord, and the cosyns of hem ben with hem.

Update Bible Version
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with them.

Webster's Bible Translation
They 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.

New English Translation
They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants.

New King James Version
They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them.

New Living Translation
They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord , and their children, too, will be blessed.

New Life Bible
They will not work for nothing, or give birth to children and have trouble. For they will be the children of those who receive good from the Lord, and their children with them.

New Revised Standard
They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord — and their descendants as well.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
They shall not labour in vain, Nor have children for terror, - For the seed of the blessed ones of Yahweh, shall they be, And their offspring, with them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them.

Young's Literal Translation
They 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.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. ¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. ¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. ²⁰ No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. ²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. ²³ They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their children with them. ²⁴ Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. ²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shall: Isaiah 49:4, Isaiah 55:2, Isaiah 61:9, Leviticus 26:3-10, Leviticus 26:20, Leviticus 26:22, Leviticus 26:29, Deuteronomy 28:3-12, Deuteronomy 28:38-42, Hosea 9:11-14, Haggai 1:6, Haggai 2:19, Malachi 3:10, 1 Corinthians 15:58

for: Isaiah 61:9, Genesis 12:2, Genesis 17:7, Psalms 115:14, Psalms 115:15, Jeremiah 32:38, Jeremiah 32:39, Zechariah 10:8, Zechariah 10:9, Acts 2:39, Acts 3:25, Acts 3:26, Romans 4:16, Romans 9:7, Romans 9:8, Galatians 3:29

Reciprocal: Psalms 25:13 - his seed Isaiah 19:25 - the Lord Isaiah 45:25 - the seed Jeremiah 51:58 - the people Zechariah 13:9 - they shall call Mark 10:14 - Suffer 1 Thessalonians 2:1 - in vain

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They shall not labour in vain,.... As they do, who build houses, and enemies come and turn them out of them, and dwell in them themselves; or who plant vineyards, and sow their fields, and strangers come and devour them; or they are smitten with blasting and mildew:

nor bring forth for trouble; for death, as the Targum; or for a curse, as the Septuagint: the tense is, they shall not beget and bring forth children, that shall immediately die by some distemper or another, or be taken off by famine, sword, or pestilence, to the great grief and trouble of their parents; but these shall live, and outlive their parents, so that their death will never be a trouble to them:

for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them; or, "they are a seed, the blessed of the Lord" i; or, "they are the seed blessed of God", or "the Lord", as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; or, as the Targum,

"a seed whom the Lord hath blessed;''

a spiritual seed of the church, a seed raised up to serve the Lord, whom he blesses with temporal and spiritual blessings; and their offspring also, being made a spiritual seed by the grace of God, and succeeding them in the church, and treading in their steps.

i כי זרע ברוכי יהוה המה "quia [sunt] semens, benedicti Domini ipsi"; which tension is most agreeable to the accents.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They shall not labor in vain - That is, either because their land shall be unfruitful, or because others shall plunder them.

Nor bring forth for trouble - Lowth renders this, ‘Neither shall they generate a short-lived race.’ Noyes, ‘Nor bring forth children for an early death.’ The Septuagint renders it, Οὐδὲ τεκνοποιήσουσιν εἰς κατάραν Oude teknopoiēsousin eis kataran - ‘Nor shall they bring forth children for a curse.’ The Chaldee, ‘Nor shall they nourish them for death.’ There can be no doubt that this refers to their posterity, and that the sense is, that they should not be the parents of children who would be subject to an early death or to a curse. The word rendered here ‘bring forth’ (ילדוּ yēl^edû) is a word that uniformly means to bear, to bring forth as a mother, or to beget as a father. And the promise here is, that which would be so grateful to parental feelings, that their posterity would be long-lived and respected. The word rendered here ‘trouble’ (בהלה behâlâh) means properly “terror,” and then the effect of terror, or that which causes terror, sudden destruction. It is derived from בהל bâhal, to trouble, to shake, to be in trepidation, to flee, and then to punish suddenly; and the connection here seems to require the sense that their children should not be devoted to sudden destruction.

For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord - (See the notes at Isaiah 59:21).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 65:23. They shall not labour in vain - "My chosen shall not labour 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 labour 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 Psalms 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."