Isaiah 59:7

7 They compete in the race to do evil and run to be the first to murder. They plan and plot evil, think and breathe evil, and leave a trail of wrecked lives behind them.

Isaiah 59:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 59:7

Their feet run to evil
Make haste to commit all manner of sin, and particularly that which follows, with great eagerness and swiftness, taking delight and pleasure therein, and continuing in it; it is their course of life. The words seem to be taken out of ( Proverbs 1:16 ) and are quoted with the following by the Apostle Paul, ( Romans 3:15-17 ) to prove the general corruption of mankind: and they make haste to shed innocent blood:
in wars abroad or at home, in quarrels and riots, or through the heat of persecution; which if it does not directly touch men's lives, yet issues in the death of many that fall under the power of it; and which persecutors are very eager and hasty in the prosecution of. The phrase fitly describes their temper and conduct: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity:
their thoughts are continually devising things vain and sinful in themselves, unprofitable to them, and pernicious to others: their thoughts, words, and actions being evil; their tongue, lips, hands, and feet being employed in sin, show their general depravity: wasting and destruction are in their paths:
they waste and destroy all they meet with in their ways, their fellow creatures and their substance; and the ways they walk in lead to ruin and destruction, which will be their portion for evermore.

Isaiah 59:7 In-Context

5 They hatch snake eggs and weave spider webs. Eat an egg and die; break an egg and get a snake!
6 The spider webs are no good for shirts or shawls. No one can wear these weavings! They weave wickedness, they hatch violence.
7 They compete in the race to do evil and run to be the first to murder. They plan and plot evil, think and breathe evil, and leave a trail of wrecked lives behind them.
8 They know nothing about peace and less than nothing about justice. They make tortuously twisted roads. No peace for the wretch who walks down those roads!
9 Which means that we're a far cry from fair dealing, and we're not even close to right living. We long for light but sink into darkness, long for brightness but stumble through the night.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.