Isaiah 48:22
“There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The chapter closes with a stark pronouncement: peace belongs only to the righteous; the wicked find no rest.
Context
This verse concludes Isaiah 48 and echoes Isaiah 48:22 thematic statement. It is not a judgment pronounced on Israel alone, but a universal principle. The 'wicked' are those who reject God covenant and his righteousness.
What Does Isaiah 48:22 Mean?
After all the grace, all the invitation to return, all the promise of redemption, God word stands firm: the wicked have no peace. This is not arbitrary punishment. It is a description of reality. Sin is not peace; it is restlessness. Rebellion is not freedom; it is isolation. The human heart finds no true rest in the pursuit of what is corrupt or opposed to God. The conscience will not be silent. The soul will not be satisfied. This is why God offers his commandments, his teaching, his way. Not to restrict, but to lead us toward the only state in which peace is possible.
Yet the verse does not stand alone. It comes after promises of redemption, after the invitation to leave Babylon and return, after the memory of God faithfulness. The wicked are those who refuse this invitation, who will not heed the teaching, who turn from the offered peace. For us, the path away from wickedness is not a steep climb but a turning toward the God who is already calling us home, already leading, already promising care. Peace is ours for the choosing.
In the Original Language
shalom (Hebrew), 'peace' -- wholeness, completeness, well-being, the harmony that comes when all is right with God and creation
Application
We live in a culture that promises peace through comfort, consumption, power, or pleasure, yet the restlessness remains. True peace is not a commodity but a condition of the soul—the state of being aligned with God, at rest in his righteousness. If we find ourselves without peace, the question is not whether God has failed, but whether we have turned from the way that leads to it.