Bible Strands
Isaiah 30:21
And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Judah after their rebellion, specifically their reliance on Egypt over Him. This verse sits between the promise that the Teacher will no longer hide (v. 20) and the command to discard their idols (v. 22).
The words — דָבָר (davar), "a word," is singular and unqualified—no adjective, no "commandment" or "instruction," just one word. The definite article on הַדֶּרֶךְ (ha.derekh), "the way," marks a specific path, not a general direction.
The thread — Psalm 32:8 promises instruction in "the way you should go," and Isaiah 58:11 affirms that the Lord "will always guide you." Proverbs 3:5 frames the same posture: trust rather than lean on your own understanding.
Why it lands — The verse removes the burden of choosing correctly first; whether you turn right or left, the word arrives from behind, and the demand is simply to hear it and walk. It asks the reader to stop treating the path as a problem to solve and start treating it as a voice to obey.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Cross-references
- Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- Deuteronomy 5:32 So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Isaiah 35:8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Psalms 143:8 Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- Isaiah 48:17 Thus 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.
- Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
- Joshua 1:7 Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.