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Isaiah 55 Bible study: Come to the waters
Isaiah's last hoy is the WEB's only "Hey!" (55:1), a call to buy "without money" (55:1). The wicked is told to forsake "his way" and "his thoughts" (55:7), the same Hebrew words as the higher ways and thoughts of 55:8-9. And Paul gives 55:3's words, "the holy and sure blessings of David" (Acts 13:34), in speaking of Jesus raised from the dead.
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“Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Isaiah 55:7 the wicked is told to forsake "his way" and "his thoughts", just before 55:8's "my thoughts" and "my ways".”
Is that in Isaiah 55, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"Hey! Come"
The chapter opens, "Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters!" (55:1) (tap Hey, thirsts). In Hebrew Hey is hoy, the word the WEB gives as Woe in "Woe to him who strives with his Maker" (Isaiah 45:9). Isaiah has hoy 21 times, and this is the last. The call goes on: "Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (55:1) (tap buy). Then it asks about another kind of buying: "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy?" (55:2). In Hebrew spend is shaqal, the verb of "Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver" (Genesis 23:16). Here is what almost everyone misses: the chapter sets listening beside eating. "Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good" (55:2), and "Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live" (55:3) (tap live). In Hebrew Come stands four times in 55:1-3: three times in 55:1, and once in 55:3, "come to me".
Where it leads to Jesus
The sure blessings of David
Isaiah 55:3leads toActs 13:34
The chapter says, "Turn 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" (Isaiah 55:3). In the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14), Paul stood up (Acts 13:16) and spoke of what God has done "in that he raised up Jesus" (Acts 13:33). Then he said, "Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’" (Acts 13:34). Paul gives the words in speaking of Jesus raised from the dead, and doesn't name Isaiah. The WEB words them differently: Isaiah 55:3 has "the sure mercies of David", and Acts 13:34 "the holy and sure blessings of David".
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Isaiah 55
That was a taste
The rest of Isaiah 55 is waiting in Favor
- The sure mercies of David
- His way, and my ways
- The rain and the word
- The same words in Psalm 89
- The word that goes out of his mouth
- Cypress and myrtle
- 14 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 55 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שׁוּבshuvsay SHOOV
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "turn back, return". Strong's: "to turn back (hence, away)". The chapter has it three times. The wicked is told, "Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him" (55:7). The rain "doesn’t return there, but waters the earth" (55:10). And the LORD's word "will not return to me void" (55:11). Isaiah has the verb 51 times in Hebrew. It is the verb of the LORD's oath in chapter 45, "The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked" (Isaiah 45:23), where the WEB gives it as revoked (see Go deeper).
For your group
Isaiah 55 Bible study questions
- 1The call is to "everyone who thirsts" and to "he who has no money" (55:1). What does it say to you that the invitation goes first to those who have nothing to bring?
- 2"Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near" (55:6). What does seeking the LORD look like for you in an ordinary week?
- 3The rain "doesn’t return there, but waters the earth" (55:10), and "my word" "will not return to me void" (55:11). Where have you seen God's word do its work, the way the rain does?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 55 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Isaiah 55 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 55 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home