Isaiah 55-56

New King James Version

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! ^(A)Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
^(B)Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
²Why do you ^[a]spend 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 ^(C)come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
^(D)And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The ^(E)sure mercies of David.
⁴Indeed I have given him as ^(F)a witness to the people,
^(G)A leader and commander for the people.
⁵^(H)Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
^(I)And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
^(J)For He has glorified you.”

⁶^(K)Seek the Lord while He may be ^(L)found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷^(M)Let the ^[b]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man ^(N)his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
^(O)And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For^(P) My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹“For^(Q) as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For ^(R)as 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,
¹¹^(S)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me ^[c]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall ^(T)prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²“For^(U) you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall ^(V)break forth into singing before you,
And ^(W)all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(X)Instead of ^(Y)the 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 ^(Z)for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for the Gentiles

56 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(AA)For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
^(AB)Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Do not let ^(AC)the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the Lord
Speak, saying,
“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the ^(AD)eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
⁴For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
⁵Even to them I will give in ^(AE)My house
And within My walls a place ^(AF)and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^[d]them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.

⁶“Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
⁷Even them I will ^(AG)bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My ^(AH)house of prayer.
^(AI)Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be ^(AJ)accepted on My altar;
For ^(AK)My house shall be called a house of prayer ^(AL)for all nations.”
⁸The Lord God, ^(AM)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
^(AN)“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

Israel’s Irresponsible Leaders

⁹^(AO)All you beasts of the field, come to devour,
All you beasts in the forest.
¹⁰His watchmen are ^(AP)blind,
They are all ignorant;
^(AQ)They are all dumb dogs,
They cannot bark;
^[e]Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
¹¹Yes, they are ^(AR)greedy^[f] dogs
Which ^(AS)never^[g] have enough.
And they are shepherds
Who cannot understand;
They all look to their own way,
Every one for his own gain,
From his own territory.
¹²“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,
And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating ^(AT)drink;
^(AU)Tomorrow will be ^(AV)as today,
And much more abundant.”