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Epiphany Season · Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany · Year C

Sirach 27:4-7 or Isaiah 55:10-13

My Word Shall Not Return Empty

Apple Blossoms, Charles-François Daubigny
Apple Blossoms, Charles-François Daubigny, 1873The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
An orchard of apple trees stands in full white blossom under a wide spring sky.Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so a person’s speech discloses the cultivation of the mind.Charles-François DaubignyA French landscape painter of the Barbizon circle who painted rivers and orchards from his own studio boat.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, one of the largest art museums in the world.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Overview & Insights

“So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty…” (Isaiah 55:11)

Isaiah compares God's word to rain and snow that water the earth and make it fruitful, promising that God's word likewise accomplishes what he purposes. The passage closes with a vision of Israel's joyful return from exile, where thorns give way to cypress and myrtle.

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Take it further: Sirach 27:4-7 or Isaiah 55:10-13

Commentary

Background & Word Study

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