Pentecost Season · Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year A
Isaiah 55:6-9
Invitation to the Thirsty
September 20, 2026
Overview & Insights
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)
An Invitation to Sing: Once again a return to a focus on Ms Jerusalem follows the servant passage, as happened after 49:1–6 and 50:4–11. There were hints there that Ms Jerusalem’s restoration was the correlate of Ms Babylon’s humiliation in chapter 47. Chapter 54 is the systematic exposition of that theme. The prophet takes up five images of Ms Jerusalem which once again resume the themes of the people’s prayers (we are like a childless and abandoned woman, the victim of angry abuse—literally, we are a battered and insecure city) before coming to a striking conclusion.
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Commentary
Isaiah 55 - An Invitation to Come Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical study of the call to seek and the pardon offered.
Isaiah Commentaries Precept Austin
A gateway to inductive word studies and gathered commentary across Isaiah 55.
Isaiah 55:6 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on seeking the Lord and his higher ways.
Isaiah 55:6 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight
A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice.
First Reading Study, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Agape Bible Study
A Catholic study relating God's higher ways to the Gospel's surprising generosity.
Background & Word Study
Isaiah 55 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria
The Hebrew of the oracle alongside English with linked Jewish commentary.
Isaiah 55:6 Interlinear BibleHub
The Hebrew word by word with parsing for seeking, forsaking, and pardon.
Enter the Bible: Isaiah Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's book introduction to Isaiah and its message of return.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What does Isaiah 55 invite?
The chapter calls the thirsty to come to the Lord for free grace, and here urges seeking him while he is near, for his thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). Mercy is held out to all who turn.
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