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Isaiah 55

God calls his people to receive his provision and return for pardon, assuring them that his word will accomplish his purpose.

YHWH calls thirsty people with no money to come and eat, then urges his hearers to listen so that they may live. Speaking through the prophet, he promises an everlasting covenant tied to David and describes nations coming to his people. The call to seek God includes forsaking wicked ways and returning for pardon. God then compares his word to rain that makes the earth fruitful, before describing a joyful departure and a changed landscape.

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1“Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.
3Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.
5Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.”
6Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says the LORD.
9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.
12For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn the cypress tree will come up; and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. It will make a name for the LORD, for an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 55:6The call to seek YHWH brings urgency to the offer of mercy and leads into the command to forsake wickedness.
Isaiah 55:8God’s higher thoughts and ways frame his promise of pardon and his assurance that his word will achieve its purpose.
Isaiah 55:1The opening call establishes God’s generous provision for people who thirst and have no money to pay.
Where this chapter reaches

John shares the image of thirst answered by coming to the one who offers life, with Jesus calling thirsty people to himself. Psalm shares Isaiah’s picture of creation praising God, including singing hills and trees, as the world responds to YHWH’s work.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the offer of food without price shape your reading of the call to return to God?

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What does the comparison between God’s word and rain help you understand about his promises?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 55

What does Isaiah 55 mean by buying without money?

The image is a market call with an unexpected offer: those who have no money can receive food and drink. The following verses connect eating with listening to God and receiving life. The language presents God’s generous provision and covenant promise as gifts beyond the hearers’ ability to purchase.

What does Isaiah 55:8 mean by God’s thoughts being different?

The statement follows the call to abandon wicked ways and thoughts and return to God for pardon. It also leads into the assurance that God’s word succeeds. In this setting, God’s higher thoughts and ways establish the greatness of his mercy and purpose beyond human understanding.

What does it mean that God’s word will not return void?

God compares his spoken word to rain and snow that water the ground and produce food. His word achieves the purpose for which he sends it. Here that assurance supports the promises of pardon and joyful restoration. The verse does not promise that every human use of Scripture achieves its intended result.

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Isaiah · 66 chapters
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What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about guilt →What the Bible says about patience →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).