Isaiah 59:7
New International Version
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.

New Living Translation
Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder. They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them.

English Standard Version
Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways.

Berean Standard Bible
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

King James Bible
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

New King James Version
Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.

New American Standard Bible
Their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing, Devastation and destruction are in their paths.

NASB 1995
Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

NASB 1977
Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

Legacy Standard Bible
Their feet run to evil, And they are quick to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness; Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

Amplified Bible
Their feet run to evil, And they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing]; Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

Christian Standard Bible
Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.

American Standard Version
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.

Contemporary English Version
You hurry off to do wrong or murder innocent victims. All you think about is sin; you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go.

English Revised Version
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation ard destruction are in their paths.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Their feet run to do evil. They hurry to shed innocent blood. Their plans are evil. Ruin and destruction are on their highways.

Good News Translation
You are always planning something evil, and you can hardly wait to do it. You never hesitate to murder innocent people. You leave ruin and destruction wherever you go,

International Standard Version
Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence are in their paths.

Majority Standard Bible
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

NET Bible
They are eager to do evil, quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful; they crush and destroy.

New Heart English Bible
Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; destruction and calamity are in their paths.

Webster's Bible Translation
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

World English Bible
Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Desolation and destruction are in their paths.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Their feet run to evil, "" And they hurry to shed innocent blood, "" Their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity, "" Spoiling and destruction [are] in their highways.

Young's Literal Translation
Their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed innocent blood, Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Spoiling and destruction are in their highways.

Smith's Literal Translation
Their feet will run to evil, and they will hasten to pour out innocent blood: their purposes, purposes of vanity; destruction and breaking in their highways.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are useless thoughts; devastation and destruction are in their ways.

New American Bible
Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness, violence and destruction are on their highways.

New Revised Standard Version
Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, desolation and destruction are in their highways.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; plunder and destruction are in their paths.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are the thoughts of depravity and plunder is in their streets
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Desolation and destruction are in their paths.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And their feet run to wickedness, swift to shed blood; their thoughts also are thoughts of murder; destruction and misery are in their ways;
Audio Bible



Context
Sin Separates Us from God
6Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake. 8The 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.…

Cross References
Romans 3:15-17
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; / ruin and misery lie in their wake, / and the way of peace they have not known.”

Proverbs 1:16
For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

Proverbs 6:17-18
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, / a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

Jeremiah 22:17
“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”

Micah 7:2-3
The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net. / Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

Matthew 23:32-33
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. / You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

Psalm 14:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Psalm 36:4
Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

Psalm 58:2
No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.

Jeremiah 4:22
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

Ezekiel 22:6-9
See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. / Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. / You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ...

Hosea 6:8-9
Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood. / Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Luke 11:39
Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Romans 1:29-31
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, / slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. / They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.


Treasury of Scripture

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

feet

Proverbs 1:16
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

Proverbs 6:17
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Romans 3:15
Their feet are swift to shed blood:

and they

Isaiah 59:3
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Jeremiah 22:17
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

Lamentations 4:13
For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

their thoughts

Proverbs 15:26
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.

Proverbs 24:9
The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

Mark 7:21,22
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, …

wasting

Isaiah 60:18
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Romans 3:16
Destruction and misery are in their ways:

destruction.

Jump to Previous
Blood Death Delight Desolation Destruction Devastation Evil Feet Haste Hasten Highways Iniquity Innocent Mark Paths Quickly Ruin Run Rush Shed Sin Spoiling Swift Thoughts Upright Wasting
Jump to Next
Blood Death Delight Desolation Destruction Devastation Evil Feet Haste Hasten Highways Iniquity Innocent Mark Paths Quickly Ruin Run Rush Shed Sin Spoiling Swift Thoughts Upright Wasting
Isaiah 59
1. Calamities are not due to lack of saving power in God, but to their own sins
16. Salvation is only of God
20. The covenant of the Redeemer














Their feet run to evil
This phrase highlights the eagerness and swiftness with which people pursue wrongdoing. The Hebrew word for "feet" (רַגְלֵיהֶם, "raglehem") often symbolizes one's path or way of life. In the biblical context, feet that "run to evil" suggest a deliberate and enthusiastic pursuit of sin, indicating a heart that is inclined towards wickedness. Historically, this reflects the moral decay present in Israel at the time, where societal norms had shifted away from God's commandments. The imagery of running suggests not just a passive falling into sin, but an active and willing participation in it.

they are swift to shed innocent blood
The phrase underscores the violence and injustice prevalent among the people. "Swift" (מְהֵרִים, "meherim") conveys a sense of urgency and lack of hesitation. The shedding of "innocent blood" is a grave sin in the biblical narrative, often associated with murder and the violation of God's law. This reflects a society where life is not valued, and justice is perverted. In a broader scriptural context, it serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of turning away from God's righteousness and the resulting moral chaos.

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts
Here, the focus shifts to the internal state of the people. "Thoughts" (מַחְשְׁבוֹת, "machshavot") in Hebrew can refer to plans or intentions, indicating that their very intentions are corrupt. The term "sinful" (אָוֶן, "aven") suggests iniquity and moral perversity. This phrase highlights the biblical principle that sin begins in the heart and mind before manifesting in actions. It serves as a call to examine one's inner life and align it with God's will, emphasizing the need for repentance and transformation from within.

ruin and destruction lie in their wake
This phrase paints a picture of the consequences of living a life contrary to God's ways. "Ruin" (שֹׁד, "shod") and "destruction" (מִשְׁבָּר, "mishbar") indicate the devastation that follows sinful actions. The imagery of a path or wake suggests that the impact of sin is not isolated but leaves a trail of damage affecting others. Historically, this reflects the societal breakdown and suffering that result from collective disobedience to God. It serves as a warning of the inevitable consequences of sin and the urgent need for a return to righteousness and justice.

(7) Their feet run to evil.--Note the parallelisms, entirely after the manner of Isaiah, with Proverbs 1:16; Proverbs 16:17. So the four words "paths," "goings," "ways," and "paths" (another word in the Hebrew) are all from the same book.

Verse 7. - Their feet run to evil. It is, however, only too true that they have a power to work evil. They cannot construct, their devices fall through, their "spinning" is to no purpose; but they can, in a rough and blind way, do enormous mischief. "Their feet run to evil" - rush to it at full speed - brook no delay, but hurry on into act. It is an easy thing to shed innocent blood; and those who are conscious of constructive impotence are very apt to seek compensation by doing destructive work, which at least shows that they have a power of some kind. Hence "Reigns of Terror" when revolutions are at the last gasp. The strong expressions with respect to shedding innocent blood, used here and in 2 Kings 21:16 and 2 Kings 24:4, seem to imply something like a massacre of the more godly Israelites by the ungodly in Manasseh's time. Wasting and destruction (compare the "destruction and misery" of Romans 3:16, which is a quotation of the present passage).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Their feet
רַגְלֵיהֶם֙ (raḡ·lê·hem)
Noun - fdc | third person masculine plural
Strong's 7272: A foot, a step, the pudenda

run
יָרֻ֔צוּ (yā·ru·ṣū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7323: To run

to evil;
לָרַ֣ע (lā·ra‘)
Preposition-l, Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

they are swift
וִֽימַהֲר֔וּ (wî·ma·hă·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 4116: To be liquid, flow easily, to hurry, promptly

to shed
לִשְׁפֹּ֖ךְ (liš·pōḵ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8210: To spill forth, to expend, to sprawl out

innocent
נָקִ֑י (nā·qî)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 5355: Clean, free from, exempt

blood.
דָּ֣ם (dām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

Their thoughts
מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ (maḥ·šə·ḇō·w·ṯê·hem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4284: A contrivance, a texture, machine, intention, plan

are sinful
אָ֔וֶן (’ā·wen)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 205: Strictly nothingness, trouble, vanity, wickedness, an idol

thoughts;
מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת (maḥ·šə·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4284: A contrivance, a texture, machine, intention, plan

ruin
שֹׁ֥ד (šōḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7701: Violence, havoc, devastation, ruin

and destruction
וָשֶׁ֖בֶר (wā·še·ḇer)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7667: A breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash

lie in their wake.
בִּמְסִלּוֹתָֽם׃ (bim·sil·lō·w·ṯām)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4546: A thoroughfare, a viaduct, a staircase


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 59:7 Their feet run to evil and they (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 59:6
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