“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Parallel translations
- WEB “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- KJV For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- BSB “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
- NKJV “Foras the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
- NLT For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours. It matters because it magnifies the surpassing greatness of God's wisdom and mercy.
Overview
The vast distance between heaven and earth pictures the gulf between divine and human understanding. This is not merely about God's power but, in context, about the immensity of His pardoning grace. It calls us to trust His higher purposes rather than measuring Him by our limited reasoning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Rom 11:31–36even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.
- Ps 103:11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Ps 77:19Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
- Ps 36:5Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- Ps 89:2I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 55:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.