Isaiah 55:11

so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God speaks to the exiles in the latter part of Isaiah's "invitation" oracle (55:1–13), closing the rain-and-snow analogy with a declaration about the efficacy of His own word.

The words — דְּבָר (devar) carries the sense of a spoken decree or command, not merely a statement; יָשׁוּב (yashuv) is the verb of return, framing the word as something that goes out and comes back having done its work.

The thread — The same claim recurs in Isaiah 46:10 ("My purpose will stand") and Matthew 24:35 ("My words will never pass away"); Romans 10:17 builds the mechanism of faith on hearing that word, presupposing its effectiveness.

Why it lands — The verse removes the reader from the role of agent: God's word accomplishes its purpose whether or not you cooperate, so the demand is not to make it work but to stand where it is sent.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כֵּ֣ןkenthus יִֽהְיֶ֤הyih.Yehit is דְבָרִי֙de.va.R/iword/ my אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich יֵצֵ֣אye.Tze'it goes forth מִפִּ֔יmi./P/ifrom/ mouth/ my לֹֽא־lo'-not יָשׁ֥וּבya.Shuvit will return אֵלַ֖י'e.La/ito/ me רֵיקָ֑םrei.Kamin vain כִּ֤יkithat אִם־'im-except עָשָׂה֙'a.Sahit has done אֶת־'et-<obj.>אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sher[that] which חָפַ֔צְתִּיcha.Fatz.tiI desired וְהִצְלִ֖יחַve./hitz.Li.achand/ it has prospered אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sher[that] which שְׁלַחְתִּֽיו׃she.lach.Ti/vI sent/ it

King James Version

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Cross-references

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Isaiah 45:23 By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Luke 8:11 Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.
1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.