If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
- KJV O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
- NKJV Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
- NASB “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
- NLT Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
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 laments that if his people had obeyed, their peace would have flowed like a river. Disobedience forfeits the blessing God longs to give.
Overview
In a tender lament, God expresses what might have been: had Israel heeded his commandments, peace and righteousness would have abounded like a river and the waves of the sea. The verse reveals God's heart of compassion grieving over sin's cost. It calls us to the obedience of faith and to the true and lasting peace found in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 5:29If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Ps 119:165Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
- Isa 66:12For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.
- Ps 81:13–16If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deut 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Luke 19:41–42As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Isa 45:8Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
- Ps 36:8They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- Isa 32:15–18until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Rom 14:17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Amos 5:24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
- Matt 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 48:18 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.