Isaiah 57:20
New International Version
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

New Living Translation
“But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt.

English Standard Version
But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

Berean Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.

King James Bible
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

New King James Version
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

New American Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

NASB 1995
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

NASB 1977
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

Legacy Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

Amplified Bible
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up mire and mud.

Christian Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waters churn up mire and muck.

American Standard Version
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the wicked are agitated like the sea, because they cannot rest, and its waters are turning up creeping things and mire

Brenton Septuagint Translation
But the unrighteous shall be tossed as troubled waves, and shall not be able to rest.

Contemporary English Version
The wicked are a restless sea tossing up mud.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire.

English Revised Version
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But the wicked are like the churning sea. It isn't quiet, and its water throws up mud and slime.

Good News Translation
But evil people are like the restless sea, whose waves never stop rolling in, bringing filth and muck.

International Standard Version
But the wicked are tossed like the sea; for it is not able to keep still, and its waters toss up mire and mud.

JPS Tanakh 1917
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; For it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

Literal Standard Version
And the wicked [are] as the driven out sea, | For it is not able to rest, | And its waters cast out filth and mire.

Majority Standard Bible
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.

New American Bible
But the wicked are like the tossing sea which cannot be still, Its waters cast up mire and mud.

NET Bible
But the wicked are like a surging sea that is unable to be quiet; its waves toss up mud and sand.

New Revised Standard Version
But the wicked are like the tossing sea that cannot keep still; its waters toss up mire and mud.

New Heart English Bible
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can't rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

Webster's Bible Translation
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

World English Bible
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud.

Young's Literal Translation
And the wicked are as the driven out sea, For to rest it is not able, And its waters cast out filth and mire.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Healing for the Repentant
19bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.” 20But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. 21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”…

Cross References
Jude 1:13
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Job 18:5
Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

Isaiah 3:9
The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

Isaiah 3:11
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

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.

Jeremiah 49:23
Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.


Treasury of Scripture

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

like

Isaiah 3:11
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Job 15:20-24
The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor…

Job 18:5-14
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine…

Jump to Previous
Able Cast Dirt Driven Earth Evil-Doers Filth Mire Mud Quiet Refuse Rest Sea Toss Tossing Troubled Waste Waters Waves Wicked
Jump to Next
Able Cast Dirt Driven Earth Evil-Doers Filth Mire Mud Quiet Refuse Rest Sea Toss Tossing Troubled Waste Waters Waves Wicked
Isaiah 57
1. The blessed death of the righteous
3. God reproves the People for their idolatry
13. He gives promises of mercy to the penitent














(20) The wicked are like the troubled sea . . .--The promise of healing is, however, not unconditional. The acceptance of peace requires calmness; but for the wicked, whose thoughts are restlessly seething with evil ripening into act, this true peace is, in the nature of the case, impossible. We note the recurrence of the watchword of Isaiah 48:22, as indicating the close of another section of the prophecy. The MSS. and versions present a curious variation in Isaiah 57:21 : some "saith Jehovah," some "God," some "the Lord God." It would almost seem as if transcribers and translators had shrunk from the prophet's boldness in claiming God as in some special sense his God. It has a parallel, however, in Isaiah 7:13, and may be noted, accordingly, as one of the characteristic touches common to the two parts of Isaiah. The "Sea" of which Isaiah speaks may possibly have been the Dead Sea, casting up its salt bituminous deposits.

Verse 20. - The wicked are like the troubled sea. A striking metaphor, but one which occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and once only in the New (Jude 1:13). The sea's restless action well expresses the unquiet of the wicked; and the mud and mire that it casts up resembles their evil thoughts and evil deeds. "There is no peace" for such persons, either bodily or spiritual, either in this world or the world to come.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
But the wicked
וְהָרְשָׁעִ֖ים (wə·hā·rə·šā·‘îm)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7563: Wrong, an, bad person

are like the storm-tossed
נִגְרָ֑שׁ (niḡ·rāš)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 1644: To drive out from a, possession, to expatriate, divorce

sea,
כַּיָּ֣ם (kay·yām)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

for
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

it cannot
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

be still,
הַשְׁקֵט֙ (haš·qêṭ)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 8252: To be quiet or undisturbed

and its waves
מֵימָ֖יו (mê·māw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

churn up
וַיִּגְרְשׁ֥וּ (way·yiḡ·rə·šū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1644: To drive out from a, possession, to expatriate, divorce

mire
רֶ֥פֶשׁ (re·p̄eš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7516: Mire

and muck.
וָטִֽיט׃ (wā·ṭîṭ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2916: Mud, clay, calamity


Links
Isaiah 57:20 NIV
Isaiah 57:20 NLT
Isaiah 57:20 ESV
Isaiah 57:20 NASB
Isaiah 57:20 KJV

Isaiah 57:20 BibleApps.com
Isaiah 57:20 Biblia Paralela
Isaiah 57:20 Chinese Bible
Isaiah 57:20 French Bible
Isaiah 57:20 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 57:19
Top of Page
Top of Page