Bible Strands
Isaiah 57:21
“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet conveys God’s declaration to the covenant community, following the simile that likens the wicked to a restless, churning sea in Isaiah 57:20. The statement functions as a general theological boundary rather than a direct address to the unfaithful.
The words — The Hebrew אֵין (‘ein) and שָׁלוֹם (šālôm) anchor the verse, translating literally to “not” and “peace.” The prepositional phrase לָרְשָׁעִים (lārəšā‘îm) explicitly limits the absence of tranquility “to the wicked.”
The thread — This precise formulation recurs in Isaiah 48:22 and aligns with the retributive warning in Isaiah 3:11. The pattern of withheld peace for the unfaithful also appears in 2 Kings 9:22.
Why it lands — The text asserts that moral rebellion inherently precludes divine tranquility. A reader must accept that spiritual unrest is the fixed condition of those who operate outside God’s covenant order.
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
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
- Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- 2 Kings 9:22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
- Isaiah 59:8 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.
- Romans 3:16 ruin and misery lie in their wake,