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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and mud.
- Rom 3:17The way of peace, they haven’t known.”
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
- Luke 1:79to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
- Ps 58:1–2For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David. Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
- Jer 5:1“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
- Hos 4:1–2Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
- Matt 23:23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
- Prov 28:18Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.
- Isa 48:22“There is no peace”, says Yahweh, “for the wicked.”
- Amos 6:1–6Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
- Isa 59:14–15Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
- Ps 125:5But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
- Prov 2:15who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:
- Prov 3:17Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.
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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.