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Invitation to the feast

55 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water!
Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat!
Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk!
Why spend money for what isn’t food,
    and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy?
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good;
    enjoy the richest of feasts.
Listen and come to me;
    listen, and you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful loyalty to David.
Look, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a prince and commander of peoples.
Look, you will call a nation you don’t know,
    a nation you don’t know will run to you
    because of the Lord your God,
    the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.

Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
    call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
    and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
    to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways,
    and my plans than your plans.
10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
        and don’t return there without watering the earth,
        making it conceive and yield plants
        and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
11     so is my word that comes from my mouth;
        it does not return to me empty.
        Instead, it does what I want,
        and accomplishes what I intend.

12 Yes, you will go out with celebration,
    and you will be brought back in peace.
Even the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you;
    all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 In place of the thorn the cypress will grow;
    in place of the nettle the myrtle will grow.
This will attest to the Lord’s stature,
        an enduring reminder that won’t be removed.

Invitation to the Thirsty

55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,(A)
    come to the waters;(B)
and you who have no money,
    come, buy(C) and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk(D)
    without money and without cost.(E)
Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?(F)
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,(G)
    and you will delight in the richest(H) of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
    listen,(I) that you may live.(J)
I will make an everlasting covenant(K) with you,
    my faithful love(L) promised to David.(M)
See, I have made him a witness(N) to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander(O) of the peoples.
Surely you will summon nations(P) you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,(Q)
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One(R) of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”(S)

Seek(T) the Lord while he may be found;(U)
    call(V) on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake(W) their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.(X)
Let them turn(Y) to the Lord, and he will have mercy(Z) on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.(AA)

“For my thoughts(AB) are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”(AC)
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,(AD)
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.(AE)
10 As the rain(AF) and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,(AG)
    so that it yields seed(AH) for the sower and bread for the eater,(AI)
11 so is my word(AJ) that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,(AK)
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose(AL) for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy(AM)
    and be led forth in peace;(AN)
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song(AO) before you,
and all the trees(AP) of the field
    will clap their hands.(AQ)
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers(AR) the myrtle(AS) will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,(AT)
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”