The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
- NASB They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever walks on them does not know peace.
- NLT They don’t know where to find peace or what it means to be just and good. They have mapped out crooked roads, and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.
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
They neither know the way of peace nor practice justice, walking crooked paths devoid of peace. Sin robs people of true peace.
Overview
The prophet declares that these people are strangers to the way of peace, making crooked paths where no one finds rest. Paul also quotes this in Romans 3:17 to depict humanity apart from God. The absence of peace highlights the longing only Christ can satisfy, who is our peace and guides our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:79).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 57:20–21But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- Rom 3:17and the way of peace they have not known.”
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
- Luke 1:79to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
- Ps 58:1–2For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
- Jer 5:1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
- Hos 4:1–2Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!
- Matt 23:23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
- Prov 28:18He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
- Isa 48:22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
- Amos 6:1–6Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
- Isa 59:14–15So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
- Ps 125:5But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
- Prov 2:15whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
- Prov 3:17All her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful.
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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 59:8 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.