Isaiah 48:18

Isaiah 48:18 in other versions

• King James Version (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:
• New International Version (NIV)If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
• New King James Version (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.

Context of Isaiah 48:18

16Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit. 17Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go. 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. 19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.” 20Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

Isaiah 48:18 word by word

ל֥וּא הִקְשַׁ֖בְתָּ לְמִצְוֹתָ֑י וַיְהִ֤י כַנָּהָר֙ שְׁלוֹמֶ֔ךָ וְצִדְקָתְךָ֖ כְּגַלֵּ֥י הַיָּֽם׃Read the interlinear

• If onlyלוּlû' lû' lû · ifH3863
• you had paid attentionקָשַׁבqâshab · to listenH7181
• to My commandmentsמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
• your peaceשָׁלוֹםshâlôm shâlôm · peaceH7965
• would have beenהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• like a riverנָהָרnâhâr · riverH5104
• and your righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
• like wavesגַּלgal · heap: waveH1530
• of the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220

Cross-references for Isaiah 48:18

• Deuteronomy 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.
• Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
• Psalms 81:13If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
• Matthew 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!
• Luke 19:41As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
• Isaiah 32:15until 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.
• Isaiah 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.
• Psalms 36:8They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
• Psalms 119:165Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
• Amos 5:24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
• Romans 14:17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Commentaries on Isaiah 48:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18As a river "Like the river" - That is, the Euphrates.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18O that thou hadst heardened to my commandments! - This expresses the earnest wish and desire of God. He would greatly have preferred that they should have kept his law. He had no wish that they should sin, and that these judgments should come upon them. The doctrine taught here is, that God greatly prefers that people should keep his laws. He does not desire that they should be sinners, or that they should be punished. It was so with regard to the Jews…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 The Holy Spirit qualifies for service; and those may speak boldly, whom God and his Spirit send. This is to be applied to Christ. He was sent, and he had the Spirit without measure. Whom God redeems, he teaches; he teaches to profit by affliction, and then makes them partakers of his holiness. Also, by his grace he leads them in the way of duty; and by his providence he leads in the way of deliverance. God did not afflict them willingly. If…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Peace and righteousness will be established when the kingdom of God fully comes (see Isaiah 66:12). like a river … like waves of the sea: There will be abundant peace and overflowing righteousness (compare Amos 5:24). Israel could have had this if its people had listened to God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. peace--(Psa 119:165). Compare the desire expressed by the same Messiah (Mt 23:37; Lu 19:42). river--(Is 33:21; 41:18), a river flowing from God's throne is the symbol of free, abundant, and ever flowing blessings from Him (Eze 47:1; Zec 14:8; Re 22:1). righteousness--religious prosperity; the parent of "peace" or national prosperity; therefore "peace" corresponds to "righteousness" in the parallelism (Is 32:17).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 48:18

• Peace

In the dictionaries

• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Saviour

Commentaries on Isaiah 48

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings