← All Chapters The Book of Isaiah · Chapter 55

Isaiah 55: Come, Everyone Who Thirsts

God invites the thirsty and penniless to a free feast of grace, to seek him while he may be found, for his word never returns empty.

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Isaiah 55 (WEB)

1 “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.

2 Why 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 you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.”

6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:

7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For 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;

11 so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

12 For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Summary

This chapter is one of Scripture's great invitations of grace. God calls everyone who thirsts to come to the waters, and even those with no money to come, buy, and eat—to buy wine and milk without price. He asks why we spend our money and labor on what cannot satisfy, urging us instead to listen and let our souls delight in rich food. He promises an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David, and tells of a leader and commander given to the peoples, so that nations who never knew Israel will run to her because Yahweh has glorified her. Then comes the urgent summons: seek Yahweh while he may be found, call on him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous his thoughts, and return to the Lord, who will have mercy and abundantly pardon. God reminds us that his thoughts and ways are far higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth. Just as rain and snow water the earth and do not return empty, so his word will accomplish what he pleases and prosper in what he sends it to do. The chapter closes with the redeemed going out in joy and peace, the mountains and trees rejoicing, a transformed creation that becomes an everlasting sign of the Lord.

Voices

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The generous host who offers the thirsty a free feast, the God near at hand who abundantly pardons, whose thoughts are higher than ours and whose word never fails.
  • The thirsty / the wicked — All who hunger and thirst, who spend their labor on what cannot satisfy, and who are summoned to forsake their ways and return to the Lord for mercy.
  • David's heir — The promised leader and commander given to the peoples through the everlasting covenant of the sure mercies of David, drawing the nations in.

Key Verse

Isaiah 55:1 (WEB)

“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.

Lessons Learned

  • God's grace is freely offered to all who thirst, with no price we could pay.
  • We waste our lives on things that cannot satisfy when true satisfaction is offered for free.
  • Now is the time to seek the Lord, for he is near and ready to abundantly pardon.
  • God's word accomplishes exactly what he sends it to do and never returns empty.
  • Salvation is offered without price. “Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat… without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1, WEB). Grace cannot be earned, only received.
  • Seek the Lord while he is near. “Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6, WEB). The invitation carries urgency.
  • God pardons the one who returns. Let the wicked “return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him… for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7, WEB).
  • God's word always achieves its purpose. His word “shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please” (Isaiah 55:11, WEB), like rain that waters the earth.
  1. Who is invited in verses 1-2, and what does it cost them to come?
  2. What does it mean to spend “money for that which is not bread” (55:2) in our own lives?
  3. Why is there urgency in the call to “seek Yahweh while he may be found” (55:6)?
  4. How does the picture of rain and snow (55:10-11) encourage our confidence in God's word?
  5. What “waters” are you being invited to come to today, and what would it look like to stop laboring for what does not satisfy?
  1. Everyone who thirsts and everyone without money is invited (55:1-2). The remarkable thing is that the feast costs them nothing—it is bought without money and without price, a pure gift of grace that exposes our attempts to earn God's favor.
  2. We pour our resources and effort into pleasures, achievements, and possessions that leave the soul empty (55:2). Invite the group to name the “bread that is not bread” they pursue, and to consider the lasting satisfaction God offers instead.
  3. The Lord is near now, but the invitation is not open forever; the call assumes a window for response (55:6-7). Encourage the group to treat God's offer of mercy as urgent and present, not something to postpone.
  4. Rain and snow never return to the sky without first watering the earth and making it fruitful; just so, God's word always accomplishes his purpose (55:10-11). This frees us to trust and proclaim his word, confident that he, not our eloquence, brings the harvest.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to identify a thirst they have been trying to satisfy apart from God, and to come freely to him. As leader, hold out the warmth of the invitation rather than pressing for performance.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.