Isaiah 55:1-3

The Lord Gives an Invitation

55:1 “Hey, ¹  all who are thirsty, come to the water!

You who have no money, come!

Buy and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk

without money and without cost! ² 

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ³ 

Why spend ⁴  your hard-earned money ⁵  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ⁶  to me and eat what is nourishing! ⁷ 

Enjoy fine food! ⁸ 

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁹ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ¹⁰  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ¹² 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹³ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁴ 

They should return ¹⁵  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹⁶ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 3:14

3:14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master. ¹⁸  If you do, ¹⁹  I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

Ezekiel 18:27-30

18:27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 18:28 Because he considered ²⁰  and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ²¹  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ²²  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ²³ 

Ezekiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ²⁴  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²⁵  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Hosea 14:1

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for your sin has been your downfall! ²⁶ 

Acts 3:19

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,

Acts 26:20

26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ²⁷  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ²⁸  performing deeds consistent with ²⁹  repentance.

[55:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.

[55:1]  ² sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”

[55:2]  ³ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ⁴ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ⁶ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[55:3]  ⁹ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[55:6]  ¹² tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ¹⁷ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[3:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I am your true husband.”

[3:14]  ¹⁹ tn The words, “If you do” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection of the Hebrew verb with the preceding.

[18:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he saw.”

[18:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “ways.”

[18:30]  ²² tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

[18:30]  ²³ tn Or “leading to punishment.”

[33:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

[33:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

[14:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”

[26:20]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ²⁸ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.