Imamat 26:20

26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land ¹  will not produce their fruit.

Yesaya 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ² 

Why spend ³  your hard-earned money ⁴  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ⁵  to me and eat what is nourishing! ⁶ 

Enjoy fine food! ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. Tg. Onq., some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”

² tn Heb “for what is not food.”

³ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

⁴ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

⁵ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

⁶ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).