Isaiah 30:21 (YLT)

Passage

And thine ear heareth a word behind thee, Saying, `This <FI>is<Fi> the way, go ye in it,' When ye turn to the right, And when ye turn to the left.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 30:19 For the people in Zion dwell in Jerusalem, Weep thou not, weeping, Pitying, He pitieth thee at the voice of thy cry, When He heareth He answereth thee.

Isaiah 30:20 And the Lord hath given to you bread of adversity, And water of oppression. And thy directors remove no more, And thine eyes have seen thy directors,

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ear heareth a word behind thee, Saying, `This <FI>is<Fi> the way, go ye in it,' When ye turn to the right, And when ye turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:22 And ye have defiled the covering of Thy graven images of silver, And the ephod of thy molten image of gold, Thou scatterest them as a sickening thing, `Go out,' thou sayest to it.

Isaiah 30:23 And He hath given rain <FI>for<Fi> thy seed, With which thou dost sow the ground, And bread, the increase of the ground, And it hath been fat and plenteous, Enjoy do thy cattle in that day an enlarged pasture.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thine", "heareth", "word", "behind", "thee", "saying", "turn", and "right". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thine" and "heareth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And the Lord hath given to you..." into verse 22's "And ye have defiled the covering of...", so "thine" and "heareth" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thine" and "heareth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.