Isaiah 30:21 — Bible Verse Meaning & Context

Isaiah 30:21 reads: "and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”" — from the Old Testament, Isaiah (Major prophet). The full verse is shown above with both the World English Bible (WEB) and King James Version (KJV) translations side by side.

Isaiah 30:21 is in the book of Isaiah, traditionally attributed to Isaiah son of Amoz and written around c. 740–680 BC. Isaiah is major prophet in the Old Testament, originally addressed to Judah during the Assyrian crisis. Best known for the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 30:21 is primarily a Bible verse about Wisdom. Within Isaiah, Isaiah is the longest prophetic book and is sometimes called "the fifth Gospel" for its detailed Messianic prophecies — the virgin's child (7:14), the government on his shoulder (9:6), and the Suffering Servant of chapter 53 who would be "wounded for our transgressions. Read the full passage above with surrounding context.

Isaiah 30:21 in the World English Bible (WEB) reads: "and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”". The King James Version (KJV) reads: "And thine ears241 shall hear8085 a word1697 behind310 thee, saying559, This is the way1870, walk ye in it3212, when ye turn to the right hand541, and when ye turn to the left8041.". The WEB is a modern public-domain translation that updates the KJV's 1611 English while keeping a similar formal-equivalence style. Both render the same underlying Greek or Hebrew text.

Isaiah 30:21 is 31 words in the WEB translation (146 characters), broken into 6 clauses. It is a longer verse, often broken into smaller phrases for memorisation. Estimated reading time is about 9 seconds.

To memorise Isaiah 30:21, split it into its 6 natural clauses and learn one at a time. Repeat the full verse out loud five times, then write it from memory. Saving the verse as a photo wallpaper using our verse image studio helps daily review — the visual association with a memorable background dramatically improves recall.

Isaiah is the longest prophetic book and is sometimes called "the fifth Gospel" for its detailed Messianic prophecies — the virgin's child (7:14), the government on his shoulder (9:6), and the Suffering Servant of chapter 53 who would be "wounded for our transgressions." It opens with judgment and ends with the promise of new heavens and a new earth (66:22). Isaiah 30:21 sits within this larger story — Isaiah as a whole emphasises holiness, judgment, salvation.

Many readers use Isaiah 30:21 as a daily reminder verse — saving it as a phone wallpaper, sharing it on Pinterest, or memorising it for prayer. The verse studio on this page lets you download Isaiah 30:21 on 52 different backgrounds for free. Pair the verse with the surrounding chapter context shown above to understand its full meaning before applying it.