Bible Glide

Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Isaiah 55 calls people who are empty and thirsty to come to the Lord for what truly satisfies. It invites honest seeking, repentance, and trust in God's mercy, then points to the sure power of God's word and the joy of his saving work.

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What happens in Isaiah 55?

This chapter opens with a gracious invitation to receive what cannot be bought: life, mercy, and satisfaction from the Lord. It urges people to listen, seek God while he is near, and turn from wicked ways so they may receive compassion and pardon. The Lord then declares that his thoughts and ways are higher than human understanding. He compares his word to rain and snow that accomplish their purpose, promising that his spoken word will succeed. The chapter ends with a picture of joyful deliverance and lasting renewal, where barrenness gives way to growth and God's name is honored.

Isaiah 55 follows the promises of comfort and restoration in the earlier part of the book. After the servant and covenant themes that shape Isaiah 40-54, this chapter responds with an open call to receive God's provision. It prepares the way for the book's later warnings and hopes by stressing repentance, trust, and the certainty of God's saving word.

Themes to notice

  • Free invitationGod offers lasting satisfaction and mercy without cost to those who come to him.
  • Repentance and pardonThe passage calls people to turn from their ways and return to the Lord for compassion.
  • Sure word of GodWhat God speaks will accomplish his purpose and bring about real change.

Questions for Isaiah 55

  • What does this chapter say people are truly thirsty for, and where should they go to find it?
  • How does the call to seek the Lord shape the way repentance is described here?
  • What do the images of rain, snow, and new growth teach about God's word and his work?

Read the full text of Isaiah 55 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Needy

1“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you without money,

come, buy, and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost!

2Why spend money on that which is not bread,

and your labor on that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

3Incline your ear and come to Me;

listen, so that your soul may live.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant—

My loving devotion promised to David.

4Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

5Surely you will summon a nation you do not know,

and nations who do not know you will run to you.

For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,

has bestowed glory on you.”

6Seek the LORD while He may be found;

call on Him while He is near.

7Let the wicked man forsake his own way

and the unrighteous man his own thoughts;

let him return to the LORD,

that He may have compassion,

and to our God,

for He will freely pardon.

8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways My ways,”

declares the LORD.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so My ways are higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10For just as rain and snow fall from heaven

and do not return without watering the earth,

making it bud and sprout,

and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

11so My word that proceeds from My mouth

will not return to Me empty,

but it will accomplish what I please,

and it will prosper where I send it.

12You will indeed go out with joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow,

and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up;

they will make a name for the LORD,

an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

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