Isaiah 55:3 (YLT)

Passage

Incline your ear, and come unto me, Hear, and your soul doth live, And I make for you a covenant age-during, The kind acts of David--that are stedfast.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every thirsty one, come ye to the waters, And he who hath no money, Come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy Without money and without price, wine and milk.

Isaiah 55:2 Why do ye weigh money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which is not for satiety? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat good, And your soul doth delight itself in fatness.

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me, Hear, and your soul doth live, And I make for you a covenant age-during, The kind acts of David--that are stedfast.

Isaiah 55:4 Lo, a witness to peoples I have given him, A leader and commander to peoples.

Isaiah 55:5 Lo, a nation thou knowest not, thou callest, And a nation who know thee not unto thee do run, For the sake of Jehovah thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel, Because He hath beautified thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "incline", "come", "hear", "soul", "doth", "live", "make", and "covenant". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "incline" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Why do ye weigh money for that..." into verse 4's "Lo a witness to peoples I have...", so "incline" and "come" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "incline" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.