Isaiah 55

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55“Ho! ^aEveryone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

^bCome, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

²Why do you ¹spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

³Incline your ear, and ^ccome to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

^dAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The ^esure mercies of David.

⁴Indeed I have given him as ^fa witness to the people,

^gA leader and commander for the people.

^5hSurely you shall call a nation you do not know,

ⁱAnd nations who do not know you shall run to you,

Because of the Lord your God,

And the Holy One of Israel;

^jFor He has glorified you.”

^6kSeek the Lord while He may be ^lfound,

Call upon Him while He is near.

^7mLet the ²wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man ⁿhis thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

^oAnd He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For ^pMy thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

⁹“For ^qas the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For ^ras the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

^11sSo shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me ³void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall ^tprosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²“For ^uyou shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall ^vbreak forth into singing before you,

And ^wall the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

^13xInstead of ^ythe thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

And it shall be to the Lord ^zfor a name,

For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”