For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Parallel translations
- WEB For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,
- BSB For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
- NKJV For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,
- NASB For this is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,
- NLT This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
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 offers salvation through returning and rest, strength in quietness and trust—but the people refused. It matters because it reveals both the way of salvation and the tragedy of rejecting it.
Overview
Here is the heart of the chapter: the Holy One of Israel invites His people to be saved by repentance and quiet confidence in Him rather than frantic alliances. Yet 'you refused.' The verse beautifully expresses faith's posture—trusting rest in God—and the gospel call to find salvation not in self-effort but in resting on the Lord, who is our salvation in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Isa 26:3–4Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
- Isa 32:17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
- Jer 3:22–23Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
- Ps 125:1–2They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
- John 5:40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
- 1 Chr 5:20And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.
- 2 Chr 16:8Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.
- Luke 13:34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
- 2 Chr 32:8With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
- Isa 7:4And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
- Isa 30:7For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
- Hos 14:1–3O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
- Heb 12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Matt 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
- Matt 22:3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
- Jer 44:16–17As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
- Isa 30:11Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
- Jer 23:36And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
- Ps 80:11–13She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
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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 30:15 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.