“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.
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:
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 5:29Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
- Ps 119:165Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
- Isa 66:12For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees.
- Ps 81:13–16Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
- Deut 32:29Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
- Luke 19:41–42When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
- Isa 45:8Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.
- Ps 36:8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
- Isa 32:15–18Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
- Rom 14:17for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Amos 5:24But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
- Matt 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
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.