تعالوا إلى المياه يا جميع العطاش، تعالوا يا من لا فضة لهم وكلوا، أطلبوا خمرا ولبنا بغير ثمن
إشعيا 55/ 1-13/: “وقال الرب: تعالوا إلى المياه يا جميع العطاش، تعالوا يا من لا فضة لهم وكلوا، أطلبوا خمرا ولبنا بغير ثمن. لماذا تصرفون فضة لغير الخبز، وتتعبون في عملكم لغير شبع؟ إسمعوا لي وكلوا الطيبات وتلذذوا في طعامكم بالدسم. أميلوا آذانكم وتعالوا إلي. إسمعوا فتحيا نفوسكم: أعاهدكم عهدا أبديا، عهد رحمتي الصادق لداود. جعلته رقيبا للأمم وقائدا ووصيا عليهم. يدعو شعوبا لا يعرفها وتتبعه أمم لا تعرفه. الرب قدوس إسرائيل إلهه، وهو الذي مجده. أطلبوا الرب ما دام يوجد، أدعوه ما دام قريبا. إن تخلى الشرير عن طريقه وفاعل الإثم عن أفكاره، وتاب إلى الرب فيرحمه، وإلى إلهنا فيغمره بعفوه. لا أفكاري أفكاركم يقول الرب، ولا طرقكم طرقي. كما علت السماوات عن الأرض، علت عن طرقكم طرقي،وأفكاري علت عن أفكاركم. وكما ينزل المطر والثلج ولا يرجعان ثانية إلى السماء، بل يرويان الأرض ويجعلانها تجود فتنبت نبتا وتعطي زرعا للزارع وخبزا للآكل، كذلك تكون كلمتي، تلك التي تخرج من فمي، لا ترجع فارغة إلي بل تعمل ما شئت أن تعمله وتنجح في ما أرسلتها له. بفرح تخرجون من بابل، وترشدون في طريق السلامة. الجبال والتلال ترنم أمامكم، وأشجار الحقول تصفق بالأيدي. عوض العليق ينبت السرو، وعوض القراص ينبت الآس، وبذلك أعمل لي اسما، وذكرا مخلدا لا ينقطع”.
Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat!
Isaiah 55/1-13: “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.” Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do. For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” God is Sovereign: Life often feels confusing. If we’re experiencing a tragedy or great turmoil, we might begin to doubt that God is in control. But these words remind us that the Lord is sovereign … even in our pain, even in our troubles. Through it all, his love is transforming us, perfecting us, completing us. James MacDonald in Gripped by the Greatness of God, explains it this way: “God’s sovereignty is first painful, then slowly powerful, and over much time seen to be profitable. It is to be studied with great sensitivity for the experiences of others and deep reverence for the One who controls the outcomes of every matter in the universe”