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unless they turn to me for help. Let them make peace with me; yes, let them make peace with me.”
Isaiah 27:5 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me.”
  • KJV Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
  • BSB Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.”
  • NKJV Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me.”
  • NASB “Or let him rely on My protection, Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.”

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

God invites even His enemies to take hold of His strength and make peace with Him.

Overview

Remarkably, the Lord offers reconciliation to those who would otherwise be the thorns appointed for burning. Rather than destruction, He extends an open invitation to lay hold of Him and make peace. This anticipates the gospel call, in which former enemies of God are reconciled to Him through Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Job 22:21“Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.
  • Isa 25:4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.
  • Eph 2:16–17and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.
  • Isa 26:3–4You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.
  • 2 Cor 5:19–21namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
  • Josh 10:6The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Don’t abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us.”
  • Isa 56:2Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
  • Isa 57:19I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
  • Col 1:20–21and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
  • Hos 2:18–20In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.
  • Heb 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
  • Ezek 34:25–26I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
  • Isa 45:24They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’” Even to him shall men come; and all those who raged against him shall be disappointed.
  • Josh 9:24–25They answered Joshua, and said, “Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
  • Luke 19:42saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
  • Rom 5:1–10Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
  • Isa 64:7There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
  • Luke 13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
  • Luke 14:32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 27:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 27:5 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.