For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

For thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.

The labour of thy hands thou surely eatest, Happy art thou, and good is to thee.

You will have the fruit of the work of your hands: happy will you be, and all will be well for you.

When thou eatest the labour of thy hands, Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

For you will eat the labor of your hands; you will be blessed, and it will be well with you.

For when thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands thou shalt be blessed. Some divide this sentence into two members, reading these words, For thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands, as a distinct sentence, and then what follows, Thou shalt be blessed, as the beginning of a new sentence. I indeed grant that it is true, as they assert, that the grace of God, manifested in the faithful enjoying the fruits of their labor is set in opposition to the curse to which all mankind have been subjected. But it is more natural to read the words as one sentence, bringing out this meaning -- That God's children are happy in eating the fruits of their labor; for if we make them two sentences, these words, thou, shalt be blessed, and it shall be well with thee, would contain a cold and even an insipid repetition. Here the Prophet, confirming the doctrine stated in the first verse, teaches us that we ought to form a different estimate of what happiness consists hi from that formed by the world, which makes a happy life to consist in ease, honors, and great wealth. He recalls God's servants to the practice of moderation, which almost all men refuse to exercise. How few are to be found who, were it left to their own choice, would desire to live by their own labor; yea, who would account it a singular benefit to do so! No sooner is the name of happiness pronounced, than instantly every man breaks forth into the most extravagant ideas of what is necessary to it, so insatiable a gulf is the covetousness of the human heart. The Prophet therefore bids the fearers of God be content with this one thing -- with the assurance that having God for their foster-father, they shall be suitably maintained by the labor of their own hands; just as it is said in Psalm 34:10, "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." We must remember that the Prophet does not speak of the highest blessedness, which consists not in meat and drink, nor is confined within the narrow bounds of this transitory life; but he assures God's believing people that even in this pilgrimage or earthly place of sojourn they shall enjoy a happy life, in so far as the state of the world will permit; even as Paul declares that God promises both these to such as fear him, in other words, that God will take care of us during the whole course of our life, until he has at last brought us to eternal glory. (1-Timothy 4:8.) The change of person serves also to give greater emphasis to the language; for after having),' spoken in the third person, the Prophet comes to address his discourse to. each individual in particular, to this effect: -- Not only does immortal felicity await thee in heaven, but during thy pilgrimage in this world God will not cease to perform the office of the father of a family in maintaining thee, so that thy daily food will be administered to thee by his hand, provided thou art contented with a lowly condition.

For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands - Thou shalt enjoy the avails of thy labor; thou shalt be secure in thy rights. See the notes at Isaiah 3:10. This is a general promise respecting the prosperity which religion affords. If all people were truly religious, this would be universal, so far as man is concerned. Property would be secure; and, except so far as abundant harvests might be prevented by the direct providence of God - by blight, and mildew, and storms, and drought - all people would enjoy undisturbed the avails of their labor. Slavery, whereby one man is compelled to labor for another, would come to an end; every one who is now a slave would "eat the labor of his own hands;" and property would no more be swept away by war, or become the prey of robbers and freebooters. Religion, if it prevailed universally, would produce universal security in our rights.
Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee - literally, "Happy thou, and well with thee." That is, happiness and security would be the consequence of true religion.

Those shalt eat the labor of thine hands - Thou shalt not be exempted from labor. Thou shalt work: But God will bless and prosper that work, and thou and thy family shall eat of it. Ye shall all live on the produce of your own labor, and the hand of violence shall not be permitted to deprive you of it. Thus,
Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee - Thou shalt have prosperity.

For thou shalt eat the labour of thine (b) hands: happy [shalt] thou [be], and [it shall be] well with thee.
(b) The world esteems them happy who live in wealth and idleness but the Holy Spirit approves them best who live of the mean profit of their labours.

For thou shall eat the labour of thine hands,.... That is, thou that fearest the Lord, and walkest in his ways. It is an apostrophe, or address to such, even to everyone of them; instancing in one part of the blessedness that belongs to them, enjoyment of what their hands have laboured for; which may be understood both in a literal and spiritual sense: man must labour and get his bread with the sweat of his brow; he that will not work should not eat, he that does should; and a good man may have a comfortable enjoyment of the good of his labour; than which, as to temporal blessings, there is nothing better under the sun, Ecclesiastes 5:18; and, in a spiritual sense, good men labour in prayers at the throne of grace, there lifting up holy hands to God, wrestling with him for a blessing, which they enjoy; they labour in attendance on the word and ordinances, for the meat which endures to everlasting life; and they find the word and eat it, and Christ in it, whose flesh is meat indeed; and feed by faith on it, to the joy and comfort of their souls;
happy shall thou be, and it shall be well with thee; or, to thy soul, as the Syriac version; happy as to temporal things, and well as to spiritual ones: such having an apparent special interest in the love, grace, mercy, and delight of God; in his providence, protection, and care; in the supplies of his grace, and in his provisions for his people, in time and eternity. It is well with such that felt God, in life and at death, at judgment and for ever: and the Targum is,
"thou art blessed in this world, and it shall be well with thee in the world to come;''
and so Arama.

For thou shalt eat--that is, It is a blessing to live on the fruits of one's own industry.