Loading…

Isaiah 55:7–11

let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10  q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Read more Explain verse



Isaiah 55:7–11 — The New International Version (NIV)

Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts:

And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him;

And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

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 cometh down,

And the snow from heaven,

And returneth not thither,

But watereth the earth,

And maketh it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

It shall not return unto me void,

But it shall accomplish that which I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Let the wicked change their ways

and banish the very thought of doing wrong.

Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.

Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.

“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens

and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow,

producing seed for the farmer

and bread for the hungry.

11 It is the same with my word.

I send it out, and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all I want it to,

and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

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

“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 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 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — New Century Version (NCV)

The wicked should stop doing wrong,

and they should stop their evil thoughts.

They should return to the Lord so he may have mercy on them.

They should come to our God, because he will freely forgive them.

The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like your thoughts.

Your ways are not like my ways.

Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

10 Rain and snow fall from the sky

and don’t return without watering the ground.

They cause the plants to sprout and grow,

making seeds for the farmer

and bread for the people.

11 The same thing is true of the words I speak.

They will not return to me empty.

They make the things happen that I want to happen,

and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — American Standard Version (ASV)

let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. 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 cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. 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 cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall do that which I please, and it shall accomplish that for which I send it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Let wicked people abandon their ways. 

Let evil people abandon their thoughts. 

Let them return to the Lord

and he will show compassion to them. 

Let them return to our God, 

because he will freely forgive them. 

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, 

and my ways are not your ways,” declares the Lord

“Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

so my ways are higher than your ways, 

and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” 

10 “Rain and snow come down from the sky. 

They do not go back again until they water the earth. 

They make it sprout and grow 

so that it produces seed for farmers 

and food for people to eat. 

11 My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. 

It will not come back to me without results. 

It will accomplish whatever I want 

and achieve whatever I send it to do.” 

Isaiah 55:7–11 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Let the wicked one abandon his way

and the sinful one his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord,

so He may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for He will freely forgive.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

and your ways are not My ways.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

“For as heaven is higher than earth,

so My ways are higher than your ways,

and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven

and do not return there

without saturating the earth

and making it germinate and sprout,

and providing seed to sow

and food to eat,

11 so My word that comes from My mouth

will not return to Me empty,

but it will accomplish what I please

and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Isaiah 55:7–11 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

let the wicked forsake their way,

and the unrighteous their thoughts;

let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

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 and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Let the wicked forsake his way,

and the man of sin his thoughts.

And let him return to Yahweh, that he may take pity on him,

and to our God, for he will forgive manifold.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

and your ways are not my ways,”

declares Yahweh.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and they do not return there

except they have watered the earth thoroughly

and cause it to bring forth and sprout,

and give seed to the sower

and bread to the eater,

11 so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth.

It shall not return to me without success,

but shall accomplish what I desire

and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Let the one who is evil stop doing evil things.

And let him quit thinking evil thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord.

The Lord will show him his tender love.

Let him turn to our God.

He is always ready to forgive.

“My thoughts are not like your thoughts.

And your ways are not like my ways,”

announces the Lord.

“The heavens are higher than the earth.

And my ways are higher than your ways.

My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

10 The rain and the snow

come down from the sky.

They do not return to it

without watering the earth.

They make plants come up and grow.

The plants produce seeds for farmers.

They also produce food for people to eat.

11 The words I speak are like that.

They will not return to me without producing results.

They will accomplish what I want them to.

They will do exactly what I sent them to do.

Isaiah 55:7–11 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

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

“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 and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.


A service of Logos Bible Software