Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageIt is useless for you to rise at the crack of dawn, to sit up until midnight, to eat the bread of anxious striving — for Yahweh grants rest to those He loves.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GWorthless it is for you — rising before dawn, sitting up into the night, eating the bread of weary toil — for He gives sleep to His beloved.
KJV
King James VersionIt 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.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleIn vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
Footnotes
*Lechem ha'atzavim* (לֶחֶם הָעֲצָבִים) literally means "bread of sorrows" or "bread of painful toil"; the root *etzev* carries the weight of bone-deep grief and effort — deliberately echoing the curse of Genesis 3:17 ("in toil/*etzev* you shall eat of it all the days of your life"). The contrast is stark: frantic human striving produces only grief-bread, while YHWH gives *shenah* (שֵׁנָה), "sleep," to *yedido* (יְדִידוֹ), "His beloved one" — a singular, intimate term sharing its root with the name David ("beloved"), suggesting the gift flows through covenantal relationship, not earned achievement. FOG renders "weary toil" to capture the physical exhaustion in *etzev*; FOG Message uses "anxious striving" to draw out the contrast between frantic human effort and the rest Yahweh freely bestows on those He holds dear.