Isaiah 59:8

59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. destruction: Heb. breaking

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. judgment: or, right

KJV

Save image

They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goes therein shall not know peace. ¶

59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

What does Isaiah 59:8 mean?

Isaiah 59:8 is a verse in the book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include דֶּרֶךְ (derek), שָׁלוֹם (shâlôwm), יָדַע (yâdaʻ). It connects to 5 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

The

wayדֶּרֶךְderek/deh'-rek/H1870a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb

peaceשָׁלוֹםshâlôwm/shaw-lome'/H7965safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace

they

knowיָדַעyâdaʻ/yaw-dah'/H3045to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)

not;

and

there

judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâṭ/mish-pawt'/H4941properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style

their

goings:מַעְגָּלmaʻgâl/mah-gawl'/H4570a track (literally or figuratively); also a rampart (as circular)

they

have

made

them

crookedעָקַשׁʻâqash/aw-kash'/H6140to knot or distort; figuratively, to pervert (act or declare perverse)

paths:נָתִיבnâthîyb/naw-theeb'/H5410a (beaten) track

whosoever

goethדָּרַךְdârak/daw-rak'/H1869to tread; by implication, to walk; also to string abow (by treading on it in bending)

therein

shall

not

peace.שָׁלוֹםshâlôwm/shaw-lome'/H7965safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace

judgment:

or,

right

Commentary on Isaiah 59:8

HENRY_FULL · Isaiah 59:8

s bound in the heart of a child may be driven out by the rod of correction, for then the mind is to be moulded, the vicious habits not having taken root; but here he shows that, if it be not done then, it will be next to impossible to do it afterwards; if the disease be inveterate, there is a danger of its being incurable. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Observe, 1. Some are so bad that rough and severe methods must be used with them, after gentle means have been tried in vain; they must be brayed in a mortar. God will take this way with them by his judgments; the magistrates must take this way with them by the rigour of the law. Force must be used with those that will not be ruled by reason, and love, and their own interest. 2. Some are so incorrigibly bad that even those rough and severe methods do not answer the end, their foolishness will not depart from them, so fully are their hearts set in them to do evil; they are often under the rod and yet not humbled, in the furnace and yet not refined, but, like Ahaz, trespass yet more ( 2 Chron. xxviii. 22 ); and what remains then but that they should be rejected as reprobate silver? The Reward of Prudence. 23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. 24 For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown e

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

2 Samuel 7:16

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Isaiah 9:7

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 23:5

As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

Zephaniah 1:18

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

James 1:10

But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

Topics

Wicked

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Isaiah 59:8.

Genesis 18:19

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Genesis 24:21

And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

Genesis 38:16

And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

Isaiah 42:16

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. straight: Heb. into straightness

Proverbs 4:11

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

Psalms 119:35

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Frequently asked questions

What does Isaiah 59:8 say?

Isaiah 59:8 (King James Version) reads: "The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. judgment: or, right"

Is Isaiah 59:8 in the Old or New Testament?

Isaiah 59:8 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Isaiah.

Reflect

As you read Isaiah 59:8, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

Plan a sermon or study on Isaiah 59:8 →

← 59:7 59:9 →